Memoirs of a Muggle Born
by Resa13
Summary: As Hermione Granger gets older she thinks about what's really important in life, and decides to write her story so she will be remember. It's a story about danger, adventure, and passion, but most importantly it is a story about the love that defined her.
1. Preface

Memoirs of a Muggle-born

_Introduction_

Hello, if you are reading this then you already know who I am. My name Hermione Jean Weasley, formerly Hermione Jean Granger. You may know me as one of the Golden Trio, friend and helper of the famous Harry Potter. You may know me as a famous lawyer who has spent the last thirty years fighting injustice, and has helped re-write the laws concerning house elves, and even more importantly Muggle-borns. You could possibly have heard of me, when I was the first woman ever offered the position of Minister of Magic, a job I turned down. Yet none of these things are who I am. Now as I reach the end of a long a satisfying career, as my children are grown, I start to think about who I am. This is a story about my life, it is a story about danger, excitement, even death, but most importantly and undeniably my life is a story about love. A love that is perfect in it's imperfection, and the thing that truly defines me.


	2. Chapter 1

_Chapter 1_

My story begins when I was eleven years old. I had a life before that, and a beautiful one, living with my parents in our little house on the suburbs of London. Yet I was always different, I knew something about me didn't quite fit the bill. Then in July of 1991, a woman showed up on the steps of our house holding a letter. She introduced herself as Minerva McGonagall, and she gave my parents a letter that would change my life forever. It was a letter from the Hogwarts school of Witchcraft and Wizardry. She told my parents that I was a witch. They were immediately outraged, but I felt a bubble of hope balloon inside me. I knew she was right, she had to be, that's why I was different. It took a bit more convincing on my parent's part, but they had also noticed my differences, and with some explaining McGonagall was able to convince them. She gave them a list of my school things and explained to them how to get to Diagon Alley, she told them the train left at eleven o'clock on the first of September, and with that she left. I watched her go through the window, and I was startled and thrilled to see her walk a few feet from the house, make sure no one was watching on the street, and then turn into a tabby cat! That's when I knew, that it wasn't a dream, magic existed and I was magical. That night when I went downstairs, for a glass of water I overheard my father and mother talking. I heard my mother tell my father there was no way I could have some kind of special abilities, that I was just a normal girl. Her words stabbed through my heart like a hot knife, I ran back to my room and cried myself to sleep, but not before promising myself that I would prove her wrong by being the best witch there ever was.

The first time I went to Diagon Alley is one of the best memories I have in my life. The minute we stepped through the wall behind the Leaky Cauldron I felt a feeling I had never felt before. I had found a place where I fit. I looked around at the stores full of cauldrons and potions and wonderful things and I knew it was where I belonged. I got every book my parents could carry that day, all of my school books plus at least ten other books about the history and customs of the wizarding world. We bought my school robes, which I thought made me look sophisticated, and then we went to Olivander's. I will never forget the moment that I held my wand in my hand for the first time, it was eight inches long, made of willow with a unicorn hair, and it was mine. The minute I held it in my hand it felt like an extension of myself. I spent the entire month of August studying as hard as could; I was going to prove my mother wrong no matter what. By the time September first rolled around I had mastered at least four of the charms in the Standard book of spells, I had no clue how this stacked up with wizarding children, but I was very determined.

When we arrived at Kings Cross I was a jumble of nerves. Being a witch was wonderful in theory but the thought of meeting a whole slew of children my age, most of which had known about magic since they were born, scared me to death. We stood between platforms nine and ten looking around in confusion. I was starting to panic that we wouldn't find the train. Just then a somewhat intimidating old woman and a round faced little boy came up to us. The woman smiled kindly and asked if I was a Muggle born, I thought I was so I said yes. She explained that she could take me to the platform, but my parents wouldn't be able to get through, because they weren't magical. I gave my parents very long hugs, I didn't want to let them go, but I knew I had to be brave. The round faced boy smiled and told me his name was Neville Longbottom. I smiled back politely and the woman, who was apparently his grandma, directed us towards the brick divider between platforms nine and ten, we walked towards it purposefully and I turned to get one last glimpse of my parents before I disappear into my new world.

My first ride on the Hogwarts express was rather eventful. I found a compartment with Neville and instantly began to grill him on life in the wizarding world; I asked him hundreds of questions, which he answered to the best of his knowledge. I felt like I might be intimidating him a bit. One thing being a witch had not seemed to change was that I was horrible at making friends, I was much more comfortable with a book then trying to carry on a conversation, and that's the way it had always been. After awhile the boy called Neville told me that his toad was missing, I offered to help him find it. We split up to search the train and met back at our compartment with no luck. We then went off to double check all the compartments, and make sure we didn't overlook one. We got about half way down the train when I opened the compartment on two boys who looked like they were probably in the same year as us. The dark haired one was watching with fascination as the bright red haired one waved his wand over a rat. I asked them if they'd seen Neville's toad and the red haired boy rudely muttered something about already telling him they hadn't, but I stayed to see him do magic because I was fascinated. His spell turned out to be a dud, and I was not extremely kind about telling him. Then I began to prattle on about being a Muggle born and how I'd memorized all the books already, I always tend to show off when I'm nervous. I introduced myself to them, and the red headed boy muttered that his name was Ron Weasley, but I was much more interested in the second boy, who said his name was Harry Potter. I had read all about him of course, and I told him so. I then began to babble on about everything I knew about Hogwarts, when I realized that I was overstaying my welcome I got up to leave with Neville. As I was leaving I heard the read headed boy say to Harry Potter that whatever house he was in he hoped I wasn't. I felt anger shoot through me and I swore to never speak to that stupid boy again. If someone were to have told me that I had just met my soul mate, I think I might have fallen over dead from shock.

My first sight of Hogwarts was like a dream, I didn't think places like it really existed. As we crossed the lake in the little boats I thought that my life had become a fairy tale. When Professor McGonagall came out and announced there would be some sort of test to see what house we were in I was positively frantic. Everyone around me stood there quietly, but I couldn't help but whisper to Neville about what kinds of spells he thought I might need to pass the test. When I saw that the Sorting Hat did the work for us I was instantly relieved. I ran up and pulled the hat onto my head. I heard it's voice in my head, it said I had a keen mind, and that Ravenclaw would fit me nicely. I remember thinking with all my heart, I don't care where you put me I'm going to be the best witch there's ever been and no one can stop me. Suddenly it shouted that I was in Gryffindor, as I was taking my seat I saw the red haired boy give a pronounced groan and I glared at him, I was beginning to loathe the very sight of him. I watched the rest of Sorting and was happy when both Neville Longbottom and Harry Potter joined my house. To my disappointment so did the annoying red haired boy, I noticed several other older red haired boys at the table cheering him and I guessed they were his brothers, not that I cared.

School seemed to pass quickly that first year. I of course was overcompensating in every class and being a know-it-all, which seemed to annoy everyone around me but no one so much as the red headed boy. He always knew exactly how to push my buttons and make me angry but I quickly learned how to do the same with him, so it got to the point where we couldn't be in the same room together without fighting. I also noticed a growing rivalry between Harry Potter and a boy named Draco Malfoy. One afternoon I went I heard them talking about having a duel that night and I was horrified, I knew that a duel could mean someone got seriously hurt. I confronted Harry on it as soon as possible not surprisingly both he and the red headed boy blew me off rather rudely, but I was not deterred. I waited until the time I heard him tell Draco they would meet and then I snuck down and insisted that they not go, when they refused to listen I followed them and kept trying to convince them to turn back. We got caught by Mrs. Norris, who was the caretaker Filches cat, in order to keep from getting into trouble we ran onto a room that had been locked and quickly figured out why when we were almost eaten by a three headed dog. A bit later when we had gotten safely back to the dormitory I unloaded on the two of them for being so irresponsible, and then stormed off to bed, but the thing I never told them was that that night was the first night I ever went to bed a Hogwarts smiling.

As Halloween neared the situation with the red haired boy reached a dangerous level. On Halloween day in Charms class I finally snapped. He had been ridiculously waving his arms around and not seeing why the spell wasn't working, when I tried to show him how to do it he was rude to me, so I simply did it perfectly and then sat there and let him be humiliated. I knew i shouldn't have done it, but at the time it felt good. Later that day I walked by him and a group of the boys from our grade, and I heard him telling them all how horrible I was and that no one liked me, and they all laughed along, even Harry Potter who I was hoping would be my friend. I was completely crushed. I ran to the girl's bathroom, and cried until I didn't have any tears left. I stayed there for hours and I barely even moved. I didn't want to be a witch anymore, what was the point? Everyone hated me… the sun set and the bathroom became darker lit only by the torches. I was just thinking that maybe I should go find something to eat, when I heard the bathroom door open. Right away I knew something was wrong, the footsteps were loud and thumping and I heard a low growl. I began to tremble all over thinking of what horrible monster could be outside the door. I peeked out of the stall and couldn't contain my horrified scream at the huge hulking troll that was standing in the bathroom. It turned towards me and began to come at me swinging it's club menacingly, I back up as far as I could go and pressed myself against the wall in terror. Just then the door flew open and in ran the two people I thought least likely to be my saviors, Harry Potter and his red haired friend. They assessed the situation quickly and began to try and distract the troll, the red haired boy threw a pipe at it's head and screamed at it, and it turned its attention on him. Harry Potter ran to me and tried to pull me towards the door, but I was too terrified to move. Yet I remember in the back of my mind I wondered why in the world that horrible red headed boy was risking his life for me, he hated me. All the shouting angered the troll, and it charged at the boy, Harry jumped on its head and shoved his wand up it's nose. It roared in pain and dropped it's club. Quick as a flash the red head pulled out his wand and did the levitation spell that we had just learned, he clonked the troll in the head and it passed out. I remember that even though I still despised him in that moment, I was also immensely proud of him. Just then the teachers came running in and asked what was going on. I knew I had to think fast to keep us form all getting in trouble. I told them I had tried to stop the troll myself and the boys had saved me, I wasn't quite sure what made me do this, but I felt like I couldn't tell them the real reason I was in the bathroom. The red head had just saved my life so I couldn't turn him in. I remember that he looked at me that night, in a way that he never had before, and as we went back to the dormitory I knew that I had finally made two friends. That night as I fell asleep I finally put a name with the red headed boy, Ron Weasley, my friend.

From that point on Harry, Ron, and I were inseparable. Ron and I still got on each others nerves all the time but the more I spent time with him the more I realized that his rudeness was more of an act then anything, he was tough because he was the youngest of six boys and he felt he had something to prove, and while he was sometimes unbelievably dense, he was also very kind and had an extremely quick and inventive mind. I grew very fond of him and Harry that first year. One of our biggest topics of discussion was what the dog we'd had a run in with was guarding; we had managed to get a name out of the gamekeeper Hagrid about it. The name was Nicholas Flamel, but no matter how much research I did I couldn't find his name anywhere. The time came for Christmas holidays and I went home with hundreds of stories for my Mum and Dad, but the whole time I was home I was thinking of Ron and Harry.

When I got back in January, Harry and Ron eagerly met me to tell me all about the unique present that Harry got for Christmas, a cloak of Invisibility. He told me how he'd used it to sneak out of the dormitory three nights in a row. While I was appalled that he would tae such a risk, I was also bursting to know if he'd found out anything on Nicholas Flamel in the restricted section of the library, when he told me no I was terribly disappointed. We spent weeks more of research until finally Harry happened upon him in the most unlikely of places. On Dumbledore's chocolate frog card, it said Dumbledore had worked in alchemy with him. Suddenly a light bulb popped on in my head, and I went to grab a library book that I had borrowed for fun, I found the page where it said that Nicholas Flamel was the only known owner of a Sorcerer's stone. I was overjoyed that the mystery was solved. Harry on the other hand was convinced that our Potions master Snape was after it. I thought that might have more to do with the fact that Harry hated him than anything else.

It was the end of the school year before anything else happened with the stone. The second half of my first year was exponentially better than the first. I had two real friends, they were the first people in my life that I thought might truly understand me. After an incident when we were in detention with Hagrid in the Forbidden Forest, we had realized that it was not Snape who was trying to steal the stone, but Voldemort, the Dark wizard who had tried to kill Harry so many years ago. Harry was still convinced that Snape was involved, but as long as Dumbledore remained at the castle everything was safe. Then one night it all went wrong, Dumbledore was called away to an emergency meeting at the ministry and Harry thought it was suspicious, and then suddenly he made a horrible realization. We ran to Hagrid's and confirmed that Hagrid had unwittingly given key information to a stranger in the bar that no doubt was the one trying to steal the stone. We knew the stranger was going to steal the stone that night and we had to act quickly. I was terrified but excited.

We got past the three headed dog easily enough, Hagrid had given us a tip to play it music but when we got there the thief had already put it to sleep with a harp. It was a close call, the music stopped just as we jumped in the hole. We landed in Devil's Snare, and I told the boys to be still and it would let us go, Harry listened, but Ron of course panicked. When Harry and I were through I had to send a light charm at the plant to make it let Ron go. The next room had a bunch of flying keys and Harry had to use his expertise on a broom to catch the right one. Then we came to the chess set, I still remember that experience, because it was the first time I truly saw Ron Weasley the way that I see him now. Ron took charge of the situation, he was a good chess player and he confidently told us where to stand and how to move, he held our lives in his hands, but he was strong and sure of himself. I remember that as I watched him I felt drawn to him, in a way that I was still to young to even understand. Then he said he was going to sacrifice himself so we could go on, I remember thinking I had never met anyone quite so brave. It took all the strength I had to go on with Harry after he fell, I wanted so badly to stay with him and make sure he was going be alright. We got to the room with potions; I was thoroughly relieved to find that it was a riddle, not magic. It took me only a few minutes to find the two vials we needed, one led you forward, and one led you back. Harry took the one that lead you forward, and I took the one that lead me back. I didn't want to leave him but I had no choice. As soon as I got through the fire I ran to where Ron was lying, I picked his head up in my arm and tried to wake him, he looked up at me groggily and he smiled. He said my name and then asked if Harry had gotten through, I said that yes he had. We sat there in silence for what seemed like eternity, I didn't know what to do. Ron was two heavy for me to carry back out, and there was still that three headed dog to deal with. Just when I was beginning to panic I heard footsteps. I looked around and saw Professors McGonagall, Snape, and Dumbledore coming towards me. McGonagall immediately began to deal with Ron and Dumbledore asked me if Harry went on. I told him yes and he rushed forward. Snape asked me if I was alright and I told him yes. McGonagall had put Ron on a stretcher and was getting ready to take him out. He called my name and asked if I was coming too, I walked along next to the stretcher as they took him to the hospital wing. When we arrived Madame Pomfrey gave him some draught that put him to sleep. I sat by his bed and a short while later they brought in Harry unconscious and laid him next to Ron. Dumbledore told me that Harry had been successful in stopping the thief and I breathed a sigh of relief. As I looked at the two sleeping boys I realized that I had come to care about them more deeply than I had cared about anyone except for my parents.

The next day I went to the Great Hall for the end of the year feast. I saw Ron and sat down beside him, we shared smiles with each other, but we didn't speak about what had happened the night before. A few moments later Harry joined us. Dumbledore made his speech and announced the points he was giving us for our deeds the night before. I felt my heart swell with pride as I realized that I had directly contributed to our house winning the House Cup, as I looked into the faces of my two new best friends I felt nothing but happiness and hope. I was going to do it, I was going to be the best witch there had ever been, and I was going to do it while having great friends.


	3. Chapter 2

Chapter 2-

I got ready to begin my second year at Hogwarts with more excitement than I had ever felt in my young lifetime. I had found out I was the top of my class, and I was ecstatic, but even more so I missed Harry and Ron terribly. My parents took me to Diagon Alley and as they were exchanging money I was delighted to see Harry walking towards me with Hagrid, though I was confused as to why he looked so dirty and scruffy. A second later my confusion was cleared when Ron and his entire family came running up in panic, apparently Harry had gotten lost and ended up in a particularly nasty part of Diagon Alley. I remember that the first time I met Ron's family I was extremely nervous. It was the first time I had ever met a friend's family, but they seemed quite nice. They all walked into the bank to take out money and Ron told me to wait there for them, which I did. When they came back Ron, Harry, and I went off on our own, I was so happy to be with my friends again.

We went to Flourish and Blotts to pick up our books. When we went inside we saw it was very crowded. We investigated and I saw a very handsome wizard with a charming smile. He said his name was Gilderoy Lockhart, and he was talking about all the books he'd written on magic. I must admit that I was smitten, he seemed so smart and charming and handsome. As soon as he saw Harry he pulled next to him to let the press take a picture and he gave Harry all his books free of charge. I thought that was very kind of him. When Harry came back to us he was about to give the free books to Ron, when his arch rival Draco Malfoy showed up. Harry and Draco were about to get into a fight when Mr. Weasley and a man who I assumed was Draco's father intervened. I was relieved until I realized that this man was just as rude and unkind as his son, he insulted Mr. Weasley calling him poor and mocking his job. Then he made a comment about the company he kept, and I was offended when his eyes rested on me and then my parents. What did that man know about me? Just then Mr. Weasley got into a fight with him, and the book store owner had to pull them apart. We left soon after and I said goodbye to my friends at the Leaky Cauldron but all the way home I was still thinking about what in the world could have made that horrible man be so rude to me and my parents.

When I got on the Hogwarts Express a few days later I was completely distressed because Ron and Harry didn't seem to be anywhere. I looked in all the compartments and finally asked Ginny, who was Ron's little sister, if they had gotten on the train. She had said she thought they had, the last time she saw them was on the platform right before she ran through the barrier. I was beginning to panic. What if something happened to them? When we got to school and they still weren't there I was completely distraught. I looked anxiously up and down the table for them during the Sorting, I also noticed Ron's little sister had gotten into Gryffindor. Another thing that caught my attention was that Gilderoy Lockhart was our new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher, this made butterflies erupt in my stomach and I blushed at how silly I was being. During the meal I started to hear the most fantastic murmuring up and down the table. People were saying that Harry Potter and Ron Weasley had been expelled for flying to school in a Ford Angelica. I knew this couldn't be true but there was an uncomfortable knot growing in my stomach, what if my two best friends HAD been expelled? I would have to start all over again! I made my way up towards Gryffindor dormitory after getting the password from Percy the prefect, who was also Ron's brother. As I came in sight of the portrait I saw the back of my two favorite people in the world. I ran up to them and confronted them on the rumors, they informed me that they had not been expelled, but the car story was true. I was torn between being furious with them for being so stupid, and thrilled that they were still at school. As we went into the Common Room the whole house had turned out to greet them. They ran quickly for their dormitory saying something about needing sleep, but they turned to wish me a good night before they went up, and even though I was still glaring at them reproachfully, I was happy.

The next morning at breakfast things got even better when Ron got a horrible Howler from his Mum that exploded in the middle of the Great Hall so everyone heard him getting reamed out. As I looked at his beat red face with satisfaction I decided he and Harry had now been punished enough and I started being nice to them again. The rest of the day went on without incident, we met Gilderoy Lockhart outside our Herbology class and I tried hard to keep from blushing. I was not sure why I found him so fascinating, but the night before when I was looking at my schedule I caught myself making little hearts around all the periods I had him for. I felt completely ridiculous, these were NOT the kinds of things I did. After lunch we all went out onto the grounds during for our afternoon free time. Ron was complaining loudly about his wand which had been broken in the car wreck and was now very shoddy at doing any spells. A little boy ran up to us and begged Harry for his picture, Harry acquiesced but I could tell he was uncomfortable, he never really liked being famous. The boy asked him to sign it which he flatly refuse, but unfortunately Draco Malfoy overheard, and starting mocking Harry. Ron was about to curse him when Lockhart stepped in and saved the day. Our next class was his and I was overjoyed when he gave us a quiz all about him, and I got every answer right. He smiled at me and I blushed furiously. He gave us the task of rounding up fairies and it turned into quite a disaster, by the end of the lesson Harry and Ron were grumbling about his lousy teaching… but I thought it was unfair. Every teacher had their bad days… and Gilderoy was new!!

A few days later Ron and I went down with Harry to watch his Quidditch practice. We took our seats in the stands and waited for them to come out, but something was wrong. Not just the Gryffindor team came out; the Slytherin team did as well. They met in the center of the field and seemed to be having a heated debate so Ron and I went down to see what was going on. They were saying they had permission to practice because they needed to train their new Seeker, who was of course Draco Malfoy. He began flaunting the new brooms he bought his team, and mocking the outdated brooms of Ron's older twin brothers. Finally I had enough so I retorted that at least they didn't have to buy they're way onto the team. I was satisfied that I had gotten him back but then he turned to me and called me a name, Mudblood. I had no clue what it meant but I immediately new it was bad, because everyone but Harry and I reacted and began to yell at him. To my surprise the minute he heard it Ron pulled out his wand and sent a hex at Malfoy, unfortunately because Ron's wand was so destroyed the spell backfired and hit him instead. I quickly ran to him to make sure he was ok and found he was now burping up slugs. Harry and I quickly carried him to the gamekeeper Hagrid's house to see if he could help. Hagrid told him there was nothing to do but wait, he asked Ron what Malfoy had said and when they told him he was also outraged. I asked finally asked what in the world it meant and Ron explained. It meant dirty blood, it meant that I was not as good of a witch in his eyes because my parents weren't magical. Hearing those words hurt me deeply, all I wanted to do was prove that I could be a great witch and everything seemed stacked against me. Ron went on to say that it was complete rubbish, and anyone who believed it was stupid, he pointed out that Neville was a pure blood and he was horrible at magic, and Harry added that despite what Malfoy believed I was the best in the year. I blushed with pride and then looked at Ron, he was holding my gaze in encouragement for a moment, and then he disappeared back into the bucket to belch up more slugs. Yet that moment was the first time I realized how perfectly his grayish blue eyes complimented his fiery red hair. The thought startled me a bit, I wasn't sure what had brought it on, but I knew that no one had ever tried to hex someone to defend my honor before, and I knew that it meant the world to me.

The next night Harry and Ron both had to serve their detentions for the incident with the car so I was left alone in the Common Room. I sat down to try to work some more on my essay for Gilderoy but my mind was unsettled. I kept thinking back to that moment in Hagrid's hut. The reason that it bothered me so much was that there was something in that moment that I couldn't quite my finger on, but it seemed important. The fact of the matter was that I had on more than one occasion noticed how Harry's green eyes seemed to be made even brighter by the compliment of his dark hair, but something about that moment with Ron was…different, and I had no clue why. Ron was my dear good friend and so was Harry so why should there be any differences between them. After a few more minutes of pondering I decided to turn in for the night. That night was the first night that I ever dreamed about Ron, he was sitting in Hagrid's hut with me he wasn't saying anything we just sat there looking at each other, I got the distinct feeling he was trying to tell me something but it was as if neither of us could speak. The dream seemed to last only moments but when I woke up it was morning.

As the weather grew colder I tried not to dwell on the dream, which I was now having about once a week. About a week before Halloween Harry came and told Ron and I that he had promised Nearly Headless Nick, the Gryffindor ghost, we would go to his Deathday Party. I was excited, this was going to be a new experience for me. Ron of course complained but I knew he would go anyway. On Halloween we made our way down to the party in the basement, it was terribly cold with all the ghosts, and their idea of music was horrible. There was also no edible food because apparently ghosts prefer it rotten. We were standing there talking when all of a sudden Moaning Myrtle showed up, she was a ghost that haunted the girl's toilets, and she was completely depressing. We of course managed to make her float away bawling without even trying to. A few moments later the party was interrupted by a group of Headless Ghosts who were extremely rude to Nick, and I felt very bad for him. We ere all feeling cold and hungry so we tried to slip out as quietly as possible. We were on our way back up to see if the banquet was quite over when suddenly Harry stopped, he said he heard something but Ron and I didn't hear anything. He was walking purposefully down the corridor asking us if we heard anything, but we said no. Suddenly his eyes grew wide and he said it was going to kill. He took off running, and Ron and I were close behind. I was terrified, one of two things was happening either one of my best friends was going crazy, or he was hearing some unknown killer, both were very bad options. We rounded the corner and found a puddle of water, and a message. It read, "the chamber of secrets has been opened. Enemies of the heir beware." On second inspection we found Mr. Filches cat Mrs. Norris petrified. Before we could leave the scene everyone coming up from the feast found us, Draco shouted something about how the Mudblood's would be next and I glared at him. Dumbledore came and ferried us into Gilderoy's office. Most of the other teachers arrived shortly, they determined that the cat had been petrified, and then Snape tried to pin it on us! Harry gave him our alibi minus the part about him hearing voices. I was thankful for this because even though I thought I believed Harry, I knew that Snape would not. Dumbledore told Snape that he had no doubt we were innocent and let us go to bed, but I was not settled. I went to bed determined to find out everything I could about the Chamber of Secrets I was not going to let being a Muggle Born put me at risk.

I spent the next few weeks in utter frustration. I had left my copy of Hogwarts a History at home so I could bring all Gilderoy's books back with me, and now I was paying for it dearly. Everyone seemed to have the same idea I did about looking up the Legend of the Chamber of secrets so there were no copies available in the library and as hard as I tried, I couldn't find anything about it anywhere else. I was more frustrated than I had been in a long time. Suddenly when we were sitting in History of Magic one afternoon I had an idea, Ron and Harry were sitting comatose next to me, they never paid attention in history of Magic. Suddenly I had an idea. I raised my hand and Professor Bins, our only host teacher, was completely caught off guard. He called on me, and got my name wrong, but I went on anyway. I asked him about the chamber of secrets. He shifted uncomfortably and tried to change the subject, but other students picked up on my plan and began asking him questions too. Finally he acquiesced and told us what he knew. The Chamber of Secrets was a Legend, it was said that one of the school founders, Salazar Slytherin, thought that children who came from non-magical families were unworthy to practice magic, children like me. I felt the frustration and anger building again as he continued, was I ever going to be able to prove myself the equal of other witches and wizards? Professor Bins continued to say that Slytherin had a falling out with the other founder's and left the school but the legend said that before he left he built a secret chamber with a monster in it that would kill all the Muggle borns in Hogwarts, and it was said that only Slytherin's heir could open it. He assured us it was just a fantastical story, but we were all terrified.

We all left History of Magic trying to keep our emotions at bay, but none more than me, I knew the other two were scared but at least they didn't have to wonder if a monster was going to sneak up behind them and kill them! As we walked Colin Creevey ran up and informed us that people were saying Harry was the heir of Slytherin, both Ron and I were outraged but Harry seemed resigned to it. Ron asked if I thought all this Chamber of Secrets business was true, and I told him the truth. Dumbledore couldn't cure Mrs. Norris, which meant what Petrified her probably wasn't a creature he dealt with very often, and it definitely wasn't human. We shared a meaningful look, and then the three of us decided to go investigate the scene of the original crime. The most interesting new thing we found there was a line of spiders running out the window. To my surprise Ron got very upset and informed us he was terrified of spiders, I actually found it adorable the way he couldn't even look at them and trembled in disgust. I tried unsuccessfully to stifle a giggle. Harry changed the subject for poor Ron and asked where the water that had been on the floor came from, we followed the trail to the girl's bathroom across the hall. Ron was indignant that he wouldn't go in, until I informed him that it was Moaning Myrtle's bathroom, so no one would be in it. Myrtle was there and we tried to ask her about the attack but unfortunately Myrtle was so sensitive, and Ron and Harry were so completely oblivious that they had hurt her feelings within a few seconds and she swooped away bawling. On our way out Percy spotted us and he got in yelling match with Ron about them being in a girls bathroom, and also about how suspicious it looked that we were back at the scene of the crime. Later that night in the Common Room, Ron told us his suspicions that Draco Malfoy was the heir of Slytherin, and Harry of course jumped on the bandwagon immediately. I wasn't convinced, Draco seemed too much like a stupid ignorant little boy to pull off such a large task, but the facts did fit. He was in Slytherin, he hated Mudbloods, and he did seem to have the resources. Harry and Ron were trying to come up with a way to figure it out, and I interjected my idea, I thought we should make Polyjuice Potion, which turns you into whoever you wish. They agreed to the idea, though Ron was a little wary. Our next problem was to get a note to take Most Potent Potions, out of the restricted section of the library, I knew this would be tricky, but I had a plan.

The next day we put the plan into action. After Defense Against the Dark Arts I went up and asked Gilderoy if he would sign for the book. I told him it was for extra research on one of the theories in his book about trolls, and he signed immediately. He also called me the best student in my year, and I blushed furiously. When we left for the library Ron called him a brainless git. I tried to defend him but Ron immediately called my bluff and said I was only defending him because I fancied him and he complimented me. I said nothing more; I was embarrassed that Ron has seen through me so easily. When we got to the Library I showed Madam Pince the note but I was reluctant to let her have it, I wanted to keep Gilferoy's autograph. Finally I complied and she went to get us the book. She was still suspicious but with a teachers signature she couldn't say no. I found the Potion and read it, it was the most complicated thing I had attempted at that time. I also saw that it took a month to brew, and we were going to have to steal supplies from Snape's private store cupboard, both things that the boys complained loudly about. This was turning out to be much more complicated than I expected, but I wouldn't be dissuaded, I needed to find out how to stop this, before me or someone else like me died because of something they couldn't help!

The next day Harry had a Quidditch match and Ron and I went down to the pitch to watch. It was an important game because Gryffindor needed to beat Slytherin to stay in the running for the cup. Since none of us were that fond of Slytherin at the moment we were all very excited. About half way through the game it started to rain, and suddenly a noticed something funny. One of the Bludgers would not leave Harry alone, it kept swooping at him and trying to knock him off his broom even when other people were closer. After Harry had to do an impressive role to stay away from it other people began to notice to, Hagrid shouted that the Bludger had been tampered with and Gryffindor took a time out. I was relieved, I knew Quidditch was important to Harry but staying in one piece was more important, therefore I was infuriated when he flew back up into the air a few minutes later. It was so like a boy to risk his life for a Quidditch game. Suddenly Harry saw the Snitch, he pelted down the field towards Draco with his arm outstretched but there was a sickening crunch as the Bludger collided with his arm. I knew it was broken from the way he cradled it, but he just kept flying, at the last second he took both hands off the broom and grabbed the Snitch and then nose dived into the ground at full speed. I shrieked, and Ron and I tore out of the stand to make sure he was ok. When we got there we found him dizzy and disoriented, but his broken arm was the worst of his injuries. He had caught the Snitch and won the game for Gryffindor. Gilderoy kindly offered to fix his arm, but the spell unfortunately went a bit wrong, he ended up removing his bones by accident. As we took him up to the hospital wing Ron was again complaining about Lockhart, and I again defended him saying anyone could make mistakes. Madam Pomfrey, the nurse, informed us he needed to regrow all his bones. She gave him a potion to do just that, and the rest of the Quidditch team came up soon after us, they were just about to start a party when Madam Pomfrey shooed us all out. Harry had to stay in the hospital wing overnight, so Ron and I went down together and had dinner. We went back to the Common Room and spent the next few hours working on our homework, which consisted of Ron asking me for help every minute or so and also trying to figure out who could have wanted to hurt Harry. Ron thought it was Draco of course, or Snape, but I convinced him that Draco wasn't skilled enough to put a tracing spell on a Bludger, and I reminded him for the hundredth time that Snape was a teacher and on our side, he wouldn't hurt Harry. After another hour or so… we both went to bed. That night I had my dream but this time it changed. Ron and I were now standing in the corridor were the attack had happened. We were still looking silently at each other, and it still seemed like he was trying to tell me something but then his eyes focused on something behind me, and grew wide with terror. He grabbed my arm and pulled me behind him as he took out his wand, I turned to see a great dark thing that seemed to be hidden in shadow. Ron looked up at it and said that it would have to go through him if it wanted me. The thing advanced quickly and I screamed, as I did I sat bolt upright in bed. The other girls in my room had been woken up by my scream and they sat up in alarm. Lavender Brown, and Parvati Patil asked me if I was alright. I was just telling them that it had only been a nightmare, when we heard murmuring from the other side of our door. We made our way down to the Common Room and found half of our house there. I asked what was going on, and Fred Weasley told me there was a rumor that Colin Creevey had just been attacked, and was now laying Petrified in the hospital wing. I sank into a chair by the window, I felt completely numb, it was starting, the Muggle borns were being attacked. I tried very hard to hold in the sob starting to well up but tears leaked out of my eyes. Ron saw them and was immediately at my side. He put his hand lightly and I turned to him. I asked him, 'what if I'm next' he looked hard into my face and said that wasn't going to happen, because first thing in the morning we were going to start on the Polyjuice Potion, and then we were going to figure this thing out. I smiled at him and he told me to try to get some sleep, so I went back to the dormitory, but sleep did not come easily.

On our way to the bathroom the next morning we overheard McGonagall talking about the attack, which confirmed it. We went to the bathroom and holed up in one of the stalls, just in case, I worked diligently on the potion and Ron helped where he could giving me a steady stream of encouraging words. I was vaguely aware of how much of a comfort Ron was to me, as scared as I had been the night before, whenever he was with me, I felt much more at ease. A few minutes later Harry showed up completely healed but with some disturbing news. He confirmed that Colin Creevey had been attacked, and he also told us that the Malfoy's house elf Dobby had come to see him the night before. Dobby had told him that he had sent the Bludger at Harry to try to get him out of school, apparently Dobby had also visited Harry that summer in an attempt to get him not to return. The even more upsetting thing that Harry heard was that the Chamber of Secrets had apparently been opened previously, and a Muggle born had died! Now Ron and Harry were completely convinced it was Draco, who was doing opening it. Not only did his house elf seem to have inside knowledge of the situation, but the previous opening of the Chamber coincided with when his father was in school. I had to admit, the theory has merit.

A few days later we put our plan into action to steal the supplies from Snape. I decided to do the actual stealing because the other two had so much on their records already if they were caught they would have been expelled. I was terrified of stealing from the intimidating Potions master, but I was more terrified of dying at the hands of Slytherin's monster. So when Harry threw an Exploding Firework in Goyle's potion, sending swelling solution all over the dungeon I ran as fast as I cold to the cupboard, I didn't even have time to check that Snape wasn't looking, I simply crack the door and began grabbing everything we needed, I ran back to my seat with my robes bulging and my heart bounded, but Ron gave me an impressed grin which I returned with a bit of a blush. A few days later we saw a sign posted that Gilderoy was going to teach dueling lessons, I was thrilled, not only did I get more time with him, but I could actually learn how to defend myself. We went to the great Hall the night in question and he paired us into groups, I got stuck with a rather scary looking Slytherin girl who glared at me menacingly. Gilderoy told us to try and disarm each other but it didn't work very well. Most people started sending hexes at each other and my partner dropped her wand and just tackled me. She put me in a painful headlock and swung me around, I cried out in pain but I kept my send about me. I reached up and pulled hair off her robes, I needed it for the Polyjuice Potion so I could become a Slytherin girl, a moment later Harry wrenched her off of me. Then Gilderoy decided to have people practice defensive Magic and he picked Harry to help him demonstrate, and Snape, who was assisting him, chose Draco. I knew from the second it started this was a bad idea, and I was right Harry and Draco began sending ever kind of hex they could think of at each other, and while Gilderoy tried to stop them, Snape seemed to be egging them on. Then it happened, Draco shot a snake out of his wand and it slithered along the table towards Harry, Gilderoy tried to get rid of it, but he just made it angry and then it turned toward a boy named Justin Finch-Fletchly, suddenly Harry began to make funny hissing noises towards the snake. The snake looked at Justin and then at Harry. Harry made some more noises, and then snake looked at him again. Suddenly I realized with a jolt of horror what was happening, Harry was speaking to the snake. Everyone stood in stunned silence for a moment, and then Snape vanished the snake. Everyone was staring at Harry in wonder and concern, but Ron grabbed his arm and we rushed him back to the dormitory. He was completely confused why we seemed so worried. Ron asked him how long he'd been able to talk to snakes, Harry explained that he'd been able to talk to them for as long he could remember, but he didn't see the big deal. I explained that it was a very rare gift, usually associated with dark magic, and the more disturbing thing, was that it was the reason Slytherin's house animal was a snake. Slytherin had been a Parsletongue, so now everyone would believe even more that Harry was his heir. Harry insisted that was impossible, but I pointed out to him that he has know way to know that for sure.

The next day things went from bad to worse, Harry felt bad because Justin Finch-Fletchly thought that he had been trying to make the snake attack him. When Harry found Justin however, he had been Petrified by the monster. Now Harry's implication in the matter was so strong almost everyone believed it. Barely anyone stayed at Hogwarts for Christmas that year, but I did. My parents were very disappointed but I convinced them it was the best for my studies and they allowed it. On Christmas morning I woke up early and opened my presents. I sat there for a minute deciding what I wanted to do next, I knew Ron and Harry were the only two boys left in their dormitory so I picked up their presents and ran up to their room. I woke them up and Ron immediately told me I wasn't supposed to be in there, I ignored him of course. Yet I felt slightly shy sitting on the end of the bed where Ron slept. I tossed both of them their presents and then I told them I thought we should use the Polyjuice Potion that night. That night we put my plan into action I left the boys to get hair from Malfoy's best friends Crabbe and Goyle, I gave them two cupcakes with sleeping draught in them. Crabbe and Goyle were such pigs that I knew it wouldn't be difficult to get them to stuff their faces. Sure enough they showed up in the bathroom with the boy's robes, shoes, and sprigs of their hair a few moments later. WE put the hairs in three separate cups and then each went into our own separate stalls because when we ere Crabbe, Goyle, and Millicent we wouldn't fit in one. The minute I drank my potion I knew something was wrong, I felt prickly hair start to grow on my face and my fingernails were elongating and sharpening. Suddenly I had a horrible feeling I knew what was going on, I pulled out my little hand held mirror and was horrified to see a cat face looking back at me. I was so humiliated, here I was bragging that I could make this potion and I did something as stupid as pull hair off someone's robes without making sure it was their hair! I heard the vices of Crabbe and Goyle from the other side of the door. They told me to hurry up, I was panicked I couldn't go with them like this. I told them to go without me, and for one horrible minute I thought they were going to refuse, but time was of the essence so they left. I came out of the stall and began to pace rapidly panic rising in me. The potion was only supposed to be for human transformations, I didn't know what this would do to me, I didn't know if there was a way to put it right, but I definitely knew that I wasn't going to be able to put it right by myself, I would have to go to Madam Pomfrey. What was I going to tell her? I felt a sob welling up in my throat and I let it pills over, I sank to the floor and put my head on my knees. Just then Myrtle showed up she took one look at me and began to cackle unkindly, I told her to get lost but she just kept swooping around me calling me Kitty face, I wished I had something to throw at her, even though it would simply fly through her, it would have been satisfying. A little while later I heard the boys come back to the door, I quickly retreated into the stall so they couldn't see me, but Myrtle told them how awful I looked so I had to come out. They both of course reacted violently when they first saw me, but then they were really nice and helped me get to the hospital wing without anyone seeing me. Thankfully Madam Pomfrey didn't ask too many questions, she was apparently sued to dealing with this sort of thing. But she did tell me that I would be in the hospital wing for a few weeks.

Being bed ridden was infuriating for me, but there were a few things that were nice about it. Firstly Ron and Harry came to see me everyday, and they even brought me my homework, which I was very grateful for. They told me about their talke with Malfoy, and that he was not the heir of Slytherin, this didn't surprise me too much, but it was frustrating, because we were back to square one. Gilderoy also sent me a get well card, which I couldn't help but keep under my pillow and take out to read every few hours or so. By the time the third week of the new term rolled around I was almost ready to leave the hospital wing, I had also had a lot of time to think, and I had some interesting new leads on what the monster in the Chamber might be. When I met up with Ron and Harry I found out something very interesting, Harry had found an old diary that seemed to have been from the time that the chamber had first been opened. I was ecstatic, I thought maybe it held some secrets, in it's pages, but try as I might I couldn't get anything out of it, so I had to assume it was simply and old blank diary, and the timing was merely coincidence. Weeks later the importance of that little book was finally revealed, Harry came down from his dormitory one morning to breathlessly tell Ron and I more alarming news. He had written in the diary and it had written back! Then he let himself be pulled magically into and he saw a scene played out in the memory of its previous owner, who's name had been Tom Riddle. Tom showed Harry a scene that made it seemed like Hagrid was the one who opened the Chamber fifty years earlier. I didn't want to believe this, Hagrid was our friend! But at the same time we knew he had been expelled in his third year, and that he had a fondness for terrifying creatures. We were trying to figure out how to approach him about it, but I also had another thought on my mind. I wanted to know what the monster was, I thought that if I at least knew that, I could protect myself. I had thought about it while in the hospital wing, because I saw poor Justin and Colin everyday. I knew that the petrifying was the key. This monster was supposed to be Killing Petrifying was curable, as soon as Professor Sprouts Mandrakes were grown Justin and Colin would be back to normal. That meant something was going wrong. I had it narrowed down to a few creatures that all petrified people in certain circumstances, but the problem was until we could get more information on the attack patterns of this certain monster I had no clue which one it could be. Then one morning Ron and I were walking with Harry back towards the dormitory when he stopped, he looked around at us and asked us if we heard anything. He was hearing the voice again. Suddenly it all clicked, Harry was hearing a voice we weren't, which means it was a voice Ron and I couldn't understand. I knew of only one animal Harry could understand. I gasped and told them I had to go to the library, I ran there and pulled out a book I had found earlier about deadly magical creature, and found page forty seven. The basilisk, it was an ancient snake that was gigantic in size, and it killed people with its stare. I thought this must fit but the only problem was, why had no one died? I thought long and hard and suddenly it came to me, Colin saw it though his camera, Justin had been found with Nearly Headless Nick, he must have seen it through Nick, and Mrs. Norris…. she saw it in the reflection of the water! As I thought about the water another thought came to me, at every attack there had been water. Why was that significant, and then I realized. The snake was moving through the pipes. I wrote the word pipes on the page and underlined it, and then I tore the page out of the book. Normally I wouldn't have dreamed of defiling a book that way but a ominous feeling was rising inside me. I felt like somehow my knowing what I was up against made me an even bigger target, and if the snake got me, I had to be able to get this information to Harry and Ron. I walked out of the library and saw the halls were deserted; everyone had gone down to the Quidditch match. My heart was pounding very hard as I began walking, the hair on the back of my neck stood up, I felt like I was being watched. Just then a voice from behind me made me jump, it was the Ravenclaw prefect, she asked why I wasn't at the game. I suddenly heard a soft noise from the corridor to our left and I froze. I quickly asked her if she was a Muggle born, and she looked at me in alarm and said yes. I was terrified, for a moment I wasn't sure what to do, but then I remembered my hand held mirror in my pocket, I took it out carefully. Better to be petrified than dead… I told myself, if I let it petrify us Professor Sprout can bring us back. I clenched my fist tightly balling up the page of the book and held my mirror around the corner of the hall. The prefect and I both looked into it, and saw a pair of huge yellow eyes looking back at us, then everything went dark.

The thing people don't know about being petrified is that you are not unconscious immediately. I was lying on the floor I couldn't move and I couldn't see anything, but I heard things. I heard a younger boy find us and run screaming for the teachers, I heard the teachers come and take us to the hospital wing. By the time McGonagall came in with Harry and Ron the darkness was pressing in on my consciousness, it felt like someone had put a weight on my thoughts and was slowly pressing me into a deep sleep. I was afraid, I needed Harry and Ron to find the note in my hand, I needed them to end it. One of the last things I heard was Ron gasping my name, and even though I couldn't see anything, his face flashed before my mind's eye as the darkness overtook me.

The details of what happened from that point on I can't tell you. If you want to know more about it I suggest you read the wonderful tale that has been written about Harry's life. I do know from later conversations with Ron and Harry that through a combined conversation with Hagrid right before he was sentenced to Azkaban for opening the Chamber, and also the note I left. They figured out what was going on. I also found out that everything lead back to that diary, apparently Tom Riddle was the name of Lord Voldemort when he was in school, and the diary had been possessing none other than Ginny Weasley! And making her do those horrible things. Harry and Ron found the Chamber of secrets, and then Harry stopped Riddle and saved Ginny. I was immensely proud of them.

I remember the day I woke up. It was late evening when my eyes first opened and Madam Pomfrey helped me sit up carefully. She asked me how I was feeling and I told her honestly that I was fine. She smiled and told me I could go join the end of the year feast. I was astounded that I had been out that long! I asked her about the monster and she told me Harry Potter had killed it. I was so happy that I began to cry. I ran down the stairs to the Great Hall, when Harry and Ron saw me they jumped up to run to me. I threw myself into Harry's arm and hugged him fiercely gasping that I knew they could do it all along. Then I turned to Ron, I almost made to hug him but then I stopped, I looked into those grey blue eyes, and for a second it was just like my dream. We silently held each others gaze and I felt like he was saying something. Then he grinned and patted my shoulder, and told me he was glad I was ok.

The next day we all got on the Hogwarts Express, we had a wonderful time laughing and talking as we made our way back to London. I got off the train with my friends and we saw Harry's aunt and uncle waiting for him. They seemed like very unpleasant sorts of people, and I felt bad having to leave Harry with them, but shrugged and waved goodbye to us cheerfully. I saw my parents standing near the road, and went to meet them. Yet before I could leave Ron called my name. I turned to him and he said that he would write and let me know when they were going To Diagon Alley at the end of the summer, so that I could meet them there. I nodded and smiled, before waving goodbye.


	4. Chapter 3

_Chapter 3_

My summer holidays were quite enjoyable that year. I went with my parents to France and spent hours a day lying on the beach and wandering through open air markets. Ron sent me letters every once in awhile, I couldn't deny that my heart leapt every time I saw their poor old owl Erol passed out on the window sill of my room. No letters from Harry came, and I was beginning to worry, but then Ron told me about a disastrous phone call that he had attempted to make to Harry and I guessed he was probably just forbidden from sending letters by those ghastly relatives of his. The summer had given me a lot of time to think about the events of the past year as well, mainly about Ron. I was now going on fourteen years old, and I was finally beginning to accept that I had some sort of feelings for Ron Weasley. They weren't the silly shallow crush feelings I had had for Gilderoy Lockhart, but they also weren't as simple as the brotherly feelings I had for Harry. I didn't see Ron as my brother. These feelings were all very new to me and at the time I found them frankly embarrassing, so I tried to put them out of my head as much as possible.

Ron wrote me and told me they were going to Diagon Alley the day before the train was scheduled to leave, and staying the night at the Leaky Cauldron. He asked me if I'd like to come along, after quickly running down and asking my parents if it was alright with them, I wrote him a hasty reply telling him that I would be there. When I met him outside the Leaky Cauldron a few days later, he seemed like he had grown an entire foot, I had to look up into his blue eyes as I said hello. I said goodbye to my parents and then Ron helped me carry my trunk up to my room. We then set off walking through Diagon Alley, he told me all about his summer in Egypt with his family, and all the amazing things they had seen and I told him all about France. I felt slightly shy walking there with him, things were different between us now, at least in my mind they were. I actually had no clue how he felt about me. This was another awkward and uncomfortable fact that I didn't want to think about. Once we had gotten all of our books we decided to have ice cream. Ron told me the whole story that he'd gotten from his Dad about Harry blowing up his Aunt and then running away from home, and ending up in the Leaky Cauldron. I was skeptical, we knew he WAS staying at the Leaky Cauldron because we'd asked Tom the bartender, who had said Harry was out in Diagon Alley for the day but I didn't think he could have blown up his Aunt and not get expelled from Hogwarts for it.

Minutes later, while Ron and I were talking, Harry showed up. We greeted him enthusiastically, and then I confronted him on the blowing up his Aunt story. He told us it was true and I was furious with him but he said it was an accident, and that he didn't mean to. That quelled my temper somewhat, Ron said we were all staying at the leaky Cauldron and I happily confirmed it and went on to show Harry all my new school books. Ron showed Harry his new wand and I felt the color rising slightly in my face so I quickly pretended to be rummaging through one of my bags. Ron's new wand was fourteen inches, and it was made of willow with a unicorn hair, just like my wand. While I knew it was ridiculous to read anything into this I couldn't help but wonder. I sat back up and announced that I still had ten galleons, to change the subject. Ron sarcastically suggested I should by a book, but I thought I might like a nice owl, so I didn't have to use the school ones anymore.

We went to the Magical Menagerie, and Ron decided to have the lady at the counter look at his rat Scabbers. The lady seemed to think there wasn't much to be done for him that he was just old. I felt very bad for Ron, as much as he complained about Scabbers I knew that the rat meant a lot to him. Just then a huge orange cat jumped on Ron's head and tried to get the rat, but Scabbers scampered out of Ron's hands and ran out the door. Ron bolted after him and Harry quickly followed. I turned back to the counter and looked at the large ginger cat that was now purring happily and rubbing up against the lady. She told me he had been there for years because no one seemed to want him, he was a bit rough around the edges, she said. I walked over and put my hand out and the cat rubbed his head into it affectionately and purred. I looked into his squashed face and decided I wanted him. Something I never told anyone was, the reason I decided to buy him was because something about him reminded me of Ron. Not just his ginger colored fur, but his demeanor, rough around the edges, hard for people to understand but truly sweet and wonderful on the inside.

I met the boys outside and Ron, of course, was furious that I had bought the cat. I promised him that Crookshanks and Scabbers wouldn't even be near each other at school, and then we met up with the rest of the Weasley's for a very enjoyable dinner. One of the main topics of conversation seemed to be about Sirius Black, a known murderer and the only person who had ever escaped from Azkaban. I had read about him in the Daily Prophet and it was starting to make people panic that he had not yet been caught. The next day getting to the train station was a bit of a hassle, I expected that was the way it always was with a big family. Once we had gotten our stuff on the train we went out to say goodbye to the Weasley's. Mrs. Weasley gave me a kiss on the cheek as she said goodbye, and I remember I was very touched. No one but my own mother had ever done that. I also noticed that Mr. Weasley had pulled Harry off to the side and was talking to him intently, we all got back on the train and Harry jumped on at the last second, and then joined us in the train corridor. He told us we needed to speak in private and we went to find an empty compartment, the closest thing was a compartment with a man fast asleep in it. We investigated and found he was our new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher. (Gilderoy had run amuck of his own memory charm and was now in St. Mungos) I was wary of talking in front of a teacher, even a sleeping one, but Ron and Harry seemed to think it was fine. Harry told us that Mr. Weasley had said Sirius Black had escaped to come after him! I horrified a killer that the whole Ministry of Magic and the Muggle police force couldn't catch and he was after my friend. We were all feeling very apprehensive when we got a welcome distraction. Something in Harry's case was making a funny sound, we figured out it was his Sneakscope but we were confused because no one untrustworthy seemed to be around. Ron told him it wasn't a very good Sneakscope, and I asked him to put it away quickly before he woke up the teacher. I took advantage of the distraction to change the subject and began talking about Hogsmeade, now that we were third year students we got to visit the village on special weekends. Harry gave us more bad news when he told us he couldn't go because his horrible Aunt and Uncle refused to sign the paper. I felt really bad for him, and disappointed that he wouldn't be coming along, a tiny part of the back of my mind was slightly excited that Ron and I would get to go to Hogsmeade just the two of us, but I ignored it. We talked for awhile longer about Hogsmeade, and then suddenly the train began to slow down. Ron immediately thought we were at Hogwarts but I knew we hadn't traveled for long enough, he was just asking why else we would stop when all the lights went out. A great amount of shuffling and bumping into each other ensued, along with a lot of confusion. Neville and Ginny somehow found their way into our compartment and in the tussle I ended up squished right up against Ron with all the people now in our compartment. Everyone was talking in confusion when suddenly we heard someone say to be quiet. Professor Lupin was holding a handful of what I knew to be Heatless fire. I looked around the compartment and saw that the person squished on my other side was Neville, and Harry was sitting directly across from me. Ginny was next to him, she her knees pulled up to her chest and she was huddled in the corner. Lupin told us to stay where we were and he made to leave the cabin, before he could even open the door, it was opened from the outside, a towering dark hooded figure entered the compartment. In that next moment two things happened, the first was that the thing took a long deep breath, and it felt like everything good had been sucked out of the world, like happiness no longer existed. The second thing that happened was that as soon as the thing took it's breath, Ron grabbed my hand and squeezed it hard. I squeezed his right back, I was terrified and hopeless and I needed someone to cling to. Suddenly Harry fell to the floor and began to shake like he was having a seizure. Lupin stepped over him and looked at the huge thing, he told it none of us were hiding Sirius Black. When it didn't leave he did a spell that sent some kind of shimmering thing at it, and it turned and left. A few seconds later the lights came on and the train began to move again. Ron quickly dropped my hand and we both made to help Harry, he came to and asked us what happened. We explained it to him, as best we could and Professor Lupin filled in what we couldn't. Harry seemed very upset that he was the only one who fainted; he seemed to take it as a sign of weakness, which I thought was completely preposterous. I move to comfort Ginny who was shaking and crying in her corner, for the rest of the ride to Hogwarts none of us said much. Ron and I made eye contact once or twice, but I knew now was not the time to bring up what had happened when the Dementor showed up.

It turned out that I didn't get a chance to talk with Ron at all. As soon as we got to the castle McGonagall pulled Harry and I away to her office. Everyone had of course heard what had happened to Harry on the train and they were fussing over him, which simply seemed to annoy him more. He finally convinced them that he was fine and they let him leave. Then McGonagall turned her attention to me, she told me that she had reviewed my schedule for the year, and that I was taking two more credits than would be physically possible in one day. I was crestfallen, I didn't want to give anything up I liked them all so much, but then she pulled out a small hour glass on a chain. She said it was called a time turner and it allowed the user to go back in time. Each turn equaled one hour. She said that this was not something that was given to every student but I was a very special exception, and that she trusted me. She explained that I had to keep it a secret and be VERY careful about who saw me when I jumped back in time, because tampering with past events could be devastating. I took the Time Turner and thanked her and when I met Harry in the hall I was grinning from ear to ear.

The first few weeks of the term were a haze for me. It was stressful having to take so many classes and also be careful not to bump into anyone who I might have seen in that hour previously. Not to mention I was keeping the secret from Ron and Harry which was much easier said than done. On top of it all I was now living twenty six hour days which was wreaking havoc on my internal clock and I always felt tired. There were a few interesting moments over those first few weeks. Hagrid had been made the new Care of Magical Creatures professor and I thought his first lesson on Hippogriffs was wonderful until Draco Malfoy decided to show off and got himself slashed by the hippogriff. We were all worried that Hagrid would be fired… but he got off with a warning. Defense Against the Dark Arts was particularly good that year. I remember the first lesson was about Boggarts, which take the shape of whatever you fear most. I was towards the back of the line when we practiced so I watch with amusement all the things my classmates feared. Ron's was of course a giant spider, which made me chuckle slightly. I was surprised because when the Boggart got to Harry Professor Lupin vanished it, and didn't give Harry a chance to fight it. I thought that was rather unfair, did Lupin think Harry couldn't do it? I never got a chance with the Boggart but afterwards Ron teased that it would have turned into a paper with a nine out of ten on it. I glared at him but never told him that he wasn't that far off, my worst fear was that McGonagall would some day come and tell me that I simply wasn't good enough to be a witch, and I would have to leave Hogwarts.

The first Hogsmeade visit was on Halloween. I was actually thinking of not going because at the time Ron and I were having a fight. He was annoyed because Crookshanks kept trying to get at Scabbers, and I was annoyed because I felt Ron was somehow making it out to be a personal grudge when it was obviously just the cat's nature. Harry had tried to get McGonagall's permission to come with us, but she had said no. I thought this was probably for the best, with Sirius Black on the loose; I was terribly worried about Harry. Yet my attitude seemed to make Ron even more cross with me. I was sitting in the Common Room the Friday night before Halloween trying to finish up my homework; I had just made up my mind to tell Harry I was going to stay at the castle with him the next day, when Ron came down the stairs. I was the only one left in the Common Room, he and Harry had gone to bed ages ago. He sat down in a chair opposite me and said that he was sorry he had been so grumpy with me over the past few weeks. That he understood that I was worried about Harry, that he was too. Then he asked me if I was still going to Hogsmeade with him, he said he wouldn't go if I didn't because it was no fun by yourself. I told him I'd go with him, and he smiled at me and went back to bed. I got up a few minutes later and retreated to my dormitory with a big grin on my face.

Ron and I returned from Hogsmeade the next day around dusk. It had been a perfect day, we had visited all the amazing shops bought as much candy and joke products as we could hold in our pockets, we even stopped at the Three Broomsticks and got butterbeers from the very pretty bartender named Madam Rosemerta. Ron spent half the time in the bar ogling her, and I had to poke him in the ribs more than once to get his attention. It annoyed me slightly, but I had to admit he probably put up with the same thing last year every time I was near Gilderoy Lockhart. I had been planning to ask Ron about the incident on the train while we were in Hogsmeade but the more I thought about it the more I decided we didn't need to talk about it. Ron was terrified just like I was and he needed someone to cling to, that was all that had happened and I was fine with that. We found Harry in the Common Room and quickly gave him all the sweets and joke products we'd brought him. We told him about our day and he told us that he had tea with Lupin and then added that Professor Snape had brought Lupin a potion which he drank. This alarmed both Ron and I because Snape's outright loathing of Lupin had been apparent since the moment Lupin entered the castle. Ron seemed to think that Snape might have tried to poison him, but I pointed out that if Snape were going to poison him he wouldn't do it in front of Harry. They both agreed and we went downstairs to eat the Halloween feast. When we got back to the Gryffindor portrait after the feast we realized immediately something was wrong. Someone told us that the Fat Lady had been attacked, and we then saw the big slashes through her painting. Filch found her hiding in another painting and she had said it was Sirius Black who had done it. I was beyond terrified, Black was in the castle? I looked at Harry in fear, I wanted so much to protect him, to hide him somewhere he could never be found. Dumbledore ordered us all back to the Great Hall and the other Houses met us soon after. We were given sleeping bags and told we would sleep here for the night. Ron, Harry, and I took ours to the corner and began to talk in hushed whispers about how in the world Black could have gotten in to the castle, I told them he couldn't Apparate or fly in because of the charms on the castle, and with dementors at the gates it seemed impossible. A few minutes later we heard the teacher come in and say there was no sign of Black anywhere. We didn't know what to make of it. I was very unsettled but I decided we should all get some sleep and I told the boys so. I said good night to Harry and then to Ron. Ron held my gaze for a moment and I knew he was as worried about Harry as I was. He said goodnight and I rolled over to go to sleep, but I was acutely aware of him next to me all throughout the night.

The next day things seemed to be back to normal except for the crazy rumors that were flying around about how in the world Sirius Black could have gotten into the school. I was also very worried about that exact thing but I put it to the back of my mind. My work load was getting out of control and I was frantic, I had never had this much stress in my life, and I was barely getting to spend anytime with my friends. All my stress culminated one day when we walked into Defense Against the Dark Arts and saw that Professor Snape was standing at the front of the room instead of Lupin. He told us to open to a page that was several chapters ahead of where we were, I tried to correct him and he was very rude to me. Therefore when he started asking questions about werewolves I decided to throw it in his face by showing him I'd read up on them already. He ignored my hand when he asked questions, and mocked our class for not knowing the material. Finally I stopped waiting to be called upon and just answered his question. I thought I had done a good job of putting him in his place when he turned and called me a know-it-all. I felt tears coming to my eyes as I sat down. It wasn't as if this was a new insult people called me a know-it-all, everyday and mostly it didn't bother me because it was true, but that day, to hear it from a teacher was just too much. Suddenly Ron stood up next to me, and shouted at Snape that if he didn't want to hear the answers to his questions he shouldn't ask them. I was completely floored, not only was I shocked that Ron would talk to Snape that way, but Ron called me a know-it-all at least every other day. Snape gave him detention and viciously told him that he'd better not ever criticize his teaching again or it would be the last thing he did. As Ron sat down I silently mouthed his name in a questioning manner, he gave me a grim smile and shook his head, and he mouthed back 'it's ok', and we went back to the lesson.

A few days later Ron and I were making our way down to the Quidditch pitch to watch Harry's game. It was a horrible day, the rain was coming down in sheets and we could barely see, but it would have taken a lot more than rain to keep us from supporting Harry. We found seats and soon Neville and Ginny joined us. The game began and it was intense, I felt bad for the poor players, I knew as cold, wet and miserable as I was in the stands it was nothing compared to what they were feeling. About twenty minutes in Wood called a time out. Harry was having an awful time because he could see nothing with the rain on his glasses. I suddenly had an idea and I squeezed past Ginny and Neville and ran down the stairs to the field. I put a repelling charm on Harry's glasses so the water would stay off them. The whole team looked at me like I was some sort of divine goddess and on my way back up to the stands I rolled my eyes at how seriously they all took Quidditch. The game continued and after a few more minutes both Harry and the Hufflepuff Seeker Cedric Diggory saw the Snitch. It was headed straight up and they both shot sky high after it, they rose until they were only little dots in the sky. Suddenly everything went cold, I looked down and to my horror I saw hundreds of dementors entering the stadium. Ginny gasped and clung to my arm, and I instinctively moved closer to Ron, and away form the oncoming dementors. I was confused, what were they doing here? They were supposed to be at the gates. As the waves of despair and hopelessness washed over us suddenly Ginny let out a blood curdling scream and pointed upwards, I looked up and froze in terror. Harry had fainted and fallen off his broom and he was now plummeting hundreds of feet towards the ground. Quick as a flash Dumbledore stood and sent a spell at the Dementors that caused them to retreat and another at Harry which caused him to slow down, but he still hit the ground with a sickening thud. Dumbledore created a stretcher and took Harry up to the school immediately. Ginny was beside herself sobbing she kept saying that he had died. I reassured her that Dumbledore didn't let that happen, but when I looked up and met Ron's eyes I knew he was thinking the same thing I was. We weren't sure if Dumbledore had gotten there in time.

Ron and I ran up to the hospital wing as fast as we could and moments later the whole Quidditch team joined us. Madam Pomfrey informed us that she had healed all of Harry's broken bones, he had eight, and he was perfectly fine and should wake up at any moment. I began to sob almost as much out of relief as worry, Ron put an encouraging hand on my shoulder and squeezed it. I remember seeing out of the corner of my eye that his twin brothers both raised their eyebrows at this and smirked at him. I didn't see his reaction, but he quickly took his hand away. A moment later Professor Flitwick walked in looking very grave and set a bag next to us with what looked like a pile of sticks in it. He explained that Harry's broom had flown into the Whomping Willow, a tree notorious for demolishing anything or anyone who got near it. A few moments later Harry woke up and we had to break the bad news to him that not only had he fainted again in the presence of dementors, but Gryffindor had lost the match, and his broom was destroyed. By the end of the conversation he looked positively morose. We stayed with him all weekend but nothing we did seemed to make him feel any better.

The next Hogsmeade visit was scheduled for right before Christmas. I was excited to go buy Christmas presents. The day of the trip dawned dark and snowy. Ron and I walked down the hill together in the blizzard, we talked about our Christmas holidays and what we wanted to buy for our families, it was very pleasant, we went into the sweet shop which was completely packed we walked around for awhile looking at things. Ron was just jokingly asking me if Harry would want some Cockroach clusters, when Harry himself appeared behind us. We of course wanted to know how in the world he got there, and he showed us the Marauders Map. Apparently Fred and George had given it to him, and it showed all of Hogwarts and everyone who was in it, as well as all the secret passages out. I was very alarmed by this and told him he needed to hand it in, because Sirius Black could be using one of those passages to get in! Harry told me no one knew about the passages but I was unconvinced. Then Ron pointed out that all the passages into the castle originated in Hogsmeade and that dementors were patrolling the streets every night, so it was doubtful Sirius Black was sneaking past them. I had to admit he had a point so I dropped the subject and we decided show Harry around Hogsmeade. We had just taken him into the Three Broomsticks for a butterbeer, when a group of teachers came in. Ron and I both reacted quickly and we pushed Harry under the table butterbeer and all. Ron and I exchanged a quick look; we knew that if the teachers saw us they would undoubtedly come over. So I quickly levitated the Christmas tree in front of our table. What we heard on the other side of that tree I will never forget, the teachers were talking with Cornelius Fudge about Sirius Black. They began to tell his story and we found out that he had been friends with Harry's father in school. That he had been best man in his wedding, and he had been Harry's godfather, but the worst was yet to come. They talked about the death of Harry's parents, apparently they had trusted Black to be their Secret Keeper when they knew they were being hunted by Lord Voldemort, and he betrayed them. My hands flew to my mouth when I heard this and I looked at Ron, he had a grim and pained look on his face. We both felt Harry trembling with rage beneath us. The teachers went on to say that Peter Pettigrew, another friend of Harry's father from school hunted Black down for vengeance but Black was the better wizard, so he annihilated Pettigrew leaving nothing but a finger. He took out twenty Muggles as well and when the Ministry finally arrived he was standing there laughing. A few moments later the teachers left and Ron and I looked careful under the table at Harry. I tried to ask him if he was ok, but I didn't even know how to begin. He didn't talk to us he simply shoved himself out from under the table with such force that it knocked over our butterbeers and stormed out the door. I looked at Ron in distress and asked what we should do. He said he thought we'd better head back to the castle, so we walked side by side in silence back up the road.

The next day the Christmas Holidays began. I got up early because I had a hard time sleeping and went to the Common Room. Ron joined me a few minutes later, and he sat down opposite me and began eating some of the candy that he had gotten from Honeydukes. I began work on my homework and we sat there in silence for awhile, but my mind would not settle, finally I put down my quill and looked up at Ron. I told him we needed to talk and he said ok, but I noticed that there was a nervous hesitance in his voice. I asked him what he thought Harry was going to do about what we heard the day before. He seemed to let out a sigh of relief and I thought I heard him mutter, 'about Harry…right...' and I wondered what else he might have thought we needed to talk about, but I continued. I told him my fear that Harry was going to try and find Black himself, and he admitted that he was worried about the same thing. We both agreed that we had to try and show him why that was so crazy. When Harry came down a little while later our fears were confirmed, we tried our best to dissuade him, but I got the feeling we didn't do much good. Ron tried to distract him with talk of a trip to Hagrid's, but Harry simply said that would give him a chance to ream Hagrid out. Hagrid had been one of the teachers in the bar. I wasn't so sure this was a good idea but when we got to Hagrid's everything changed, he was an awful mess. Apparently Draco Malfoy's father had ordered that his Hippogriff be put to death and he had a court date to defend it. He asked us to help him look up facts for the case and we said yes right away. We began to go to the library each day, but we didn't find much. On Christmas morning the boys came running downstairs extremely excited about an anonymous gift Harry had gotten, it was a Firebolt, apparently it was the best broom there was. They seemed to think it was from some well wisher of Harry's that wanted to remain anonymous but I had a feeling it could be a trap sent by Sirius Black. They both scoffed at the idea and I was annoyed because I thought their love of the broom was clouding their judgment. Things only got worse when Crookshanks went after Scabbers again, and Ron tried to kick him. By the time we went to Christmas dinner Ron and I were so annoyed with each other we were barely speaking. After the meal I hung back, I had been going over something in my head the whole meal and I wasn't sure what I wanted to do. I thought maybe I should tell McGonagall about the Firebolt, on the one hand I knew Ron and Harry would be furious with me, but on the other I was terribly worried about Harry's safety and if he was hurt just because I didn't want to make him and Ron angry I would never forgive myself. I finally decided to tell her and she came with me back to the Common Room and informed the boys she was confiscating the broom and they would strip it of all magic to make sure it was safe. Both Ron and Harry looked at me with such utter loathing that I felt myself whither under their gaze, and then they turn and left without another word.

The next few weeks were awful for me. Neither of them spoke a word to me so I holed up in the library working on all my homework and also on research for Hagrid. Finally after I felt like things might never be put right again, McGonagall returned the broom to Harry saying it was perfectly fine and after a smattering of I-told-you-so's both boys forgave me. Things seemed like they were back to normal, but then it all went wrong, Ron went up to his dormitory and found blood on his sheets and his rat was missing. He also found some ginger hairs and came back downstairs screaming at me that my cat had eaten his rat. I yelled back at him that there was no proof Crookshanks had done it, the hairs could have been left from when he had been up there at Christmas. From that point on anything that might have been brewing between me and Ron Weasley was over, I wouldn't speak to him and he seemed perfectly fine with that. Even Harry seemed to be taking his side in blaming my cat. I was holed up in the library more than ever, and I was crying as much as I was working. Here I had for the first time in my life found a boy that maybe I could actually feel something for and now it was completely messed up beyond repair. I spent a lot of time with Hagrid over those weeks. He was my one source of comfort. Harry was still talking to me some which I was happy about. Then one night there was a horrible commotion apparently Sirius Black has broken into the boys dormitory and was standing over Ron's bed with a knife. I was so scared for him that I didn't know what to do, I ran down to Hagrid's cabin the next day and just poured out everything to him, my stress about school, the fight we were having, and even that I thought I might be beginning to have feelings for Ron. Hagrid gave me a big hug and assured me that he was going to have a talk with Ron and Harry.

Whether Hagrid had that talk I never found out, but Ron's attitude didn't change much. A few weeks later I got a letter from Hagrid saying Buckbeak had been found guilty. He had an appeal but he didn't sound very hopeful, I was so upset that I threw my pride to the side and ran to find Ron and Harry. Ron gave some snippy remark when he saw me but when he read the letter his whole demeanor changed. He told me that we would win the appeal because he and Harry would be helping me, and he gave me that determined and encouraging look that I had missed so much. I was overcome and before I knew what I was doing I threw my arms around his neck and sobbed telling him that I was sorry. I felt him patted my head slightly and I quickly pulled away. He looked rather red faced and I was blushing slightly too. We had to wait until Care of Magical Creatures to talk to Hagrid. He was completely beside himself, he kept saying it was his fault, and that we would never win the appeal. As we tried to comfort him we saw Draco Malfoy laughing and mocking him. I was so filled with rage that I ran towards him, Ron and Harry were right behind me but I got there first. I hit Malfoy across the face with all the strength I could muster. Ron tried to stop me but I brushed him off and reached for my wand. Malfoy retreated quickly with his friends but I was still fuming. After a few more seconds I began to clam down. I looked at my two best friends who were still staring at me in wonder, Ron said my name slowly as if he was still trying to process that it was me who had just done that. He added that we were due in Charms and we began to walk back up the hill, but Ron was still staring at me almost like he had never seen me before, I felt myself blush.

I ditched the boys on the second floor with the excuse that I had to go to the bathroom, and I ran up to the dormitory where I usually did my time turning, unfortunately I was so exhausted from my week that the minute I sat down at my usual table I fell asleep. Ron and Harry woke me after Charms asking why I hadn't been there. I was mortified, and said I had to apologize to Flitwick. Ron commented that he thought I was taking on too much at once, and I snapped at him that I wasn't. I felt bad for being short with him, especially since I knew he was right. Divination that day was a disaster, I was already having a bad day and I found Divination to be the most pointless subject imaginable, also I was fairly convinced that our batty old professor was an errant fraud. After she had tried to predict Harry's death once again as she did every class period I had finally had enough and I called her bluff. She told me I didn't posses the proper skills for Divination, and that did it I yelled at her that I was leaving and I stormed out the door slamming it hard behind me. I had to admit I felt very satisfied as I walked back down to the dormitory.

The next month passed in a haze. We began studying for our finals and I could not remember a time when I had been that frantic I swore to myself I would never take on this much again not even I could handle this much school. In the end finals turned out not to be as bad as I had thought. The night after the last day of exams we got a letter from Hagrid saying that he had lost the appeal, and Buckbeak was sentenced to death. We all knew that we needed to be there for him, but Ron pointed out that it was near dusk and we weren't allowed to be out, and without Harry's Invisibility Cloak, which he had been forced to leave in the tunnel after his last visit to Hogsmeade, there was no way we could sneak out. I asked Harry about the wear abouts of the tunnel entrance and then set off out the portrait hole. As I was leaving I heard Ron ask in disbelief if I was really going to get it, and I couldn't contain a smile. I returned with the cloak about ten minutes later, and Ron looked at me with admiration. He said he didn't know what had gotten into me lately, but the way he said it told me that was a very good thing. We made our way down to Hagrid's and he was miserable he told us we shouldn't have come but it couldn't have been more apparent how much he needed us there. We sat with him for as long as we could. I began to make tea, all the while crying steadily. I couldn't believe they would do this to Hagrid. I went to get the milk and a jumped and screamed, they all looked at me and I proceeded to dump a frantic Scabbers out onto the table. Ron picked him up quickly and held him close like an old friend. He looked at me with a guilty face but before he had time to speak we heard people coming down the path. We saw Dumbledore and the Minister and a grisly looking executioner. Hagrid pushed us towards the back door but we didn't want to go we wanted to stay to be there for him but he wouldn't have it. We made our way quickly up the hill, I wanted to be in the castle before it happened, but Ron kept stopping because he couldn't keep hold of Scabbers who was squirming and squeaking widely. Suddenly I heard the swish and thump of the ax, my knees went weak and I remember gasping that they couldn't have really done it. Then I fell against Ron's chest sobbing, and for the first time he responded and put his arms around me. Even in my anguish I remember thinking how wonderful he smelled, he smelled soft and fresh but also like pine needles and the woods. A moment later we heard Hagrid's anguished cry, and Harry made to run back down the hill. Ron let me go and we both grabbed Harry and held him back we told him there was nothing he could do and pulled him back towards the castle. We walked towards the grounds and by the time we got there it was dark. Suddenly Ron cried out that Scabbers had bit him and dove out from under the Cloak after him. Harry and I raced after Ron calling for him to come back.

Ron finally got hold of Scabbers again but then suddenly out of no where a huge black dog attacked us. At first I thought it was going for Harry because it had jumped on him, but when he hit the ground it leapt past him and grabbed Ron by the arm and began dragging him away. I didn't even think I bolted after the dog, suddenly something slashed across my face in the darkness and I cried out in pain. Suddenly Harry lit his wand, the sight that met me was awful, the dog was pulling Ron through a hole in the base of the Whomping Willow and he was yelling for us to help him, but the tree was flailing at us wildly and there was no way to get through. Ron was doing his best to get away, he hooked his leg around a the roots of the tree, but moments later we heard the horrible sound of his leg snapping, and him being drug away. I was too horrified to think of what that dog might be doing to him. I gasped to Harry that we had to get help. He said we couldn't leave Ron, and I didn't want to either, but I felt like every moment we stood here something worse could be happening to him. I was just beginning to break down in panic when who should show up, but Crookshanks. He ran right through the branches in the agile way only cats can and pressed a knot on the tree with his paws that froze it. I wondered aloud how he could have known to do it, but Harry informed me that he'd seen him paling around with the dog. I didn't want to believe my cat would do such a thing, but at the moment my only priority was getting to Ron. Harry and I dove down the hole that the dog had drug Ron into and found ourselves standing in a tunnel. We walked down the tunnel as quickly as possible, when we got to the end and exited I knew where we were immediately even though I had never been there, we were in the Shrieking Shack. We made our way up the stairs and found Ron in room at the end of the hall. We ran to him immediately, he seemed none the worse for wear, except for his leg. He gasped to us that the dog was an Animagus, and I had a horrible feeling in the pit of my stomach. Sure enough we turned around to face none other than Sirius Black. Harry of course started screaming at him and Ron and I had to hold him back from attacking him with his bare hands, I was so scared I couldn't move. I begged Harry to be quiet. I couldn't watch Harry die in front of my eyes… I couldn't bear it. Suddenly Harry wrenched out of our grip and tackled Black to the floor, I couldn't help but scream, I was so sure he would be killed. I did the only thing I could think to do since Black disarmed us, I ran to where they were tussling on the floor and kicked Black in the face with all the force I could muster. Ron threw himself on his wand. Harry got his wand back and told us to get out of the way. Ron flopped on the bed and moaned in pain, I quickly joined him and he handed me his wand. Harry pointed his wand at the now defenseless Black and accused him of murdering his parents. Black agreed with him, and Harry raised his wand. I sat horrified unable to think, I could not be about to watch my dearest friend commit murder. Suddenly there was a noise from downstairs and I screamed desperately to whoever it was. It ended up being Lupin, for a second I thought we were saved, but then he took Harry's wand from him, and both my and Ron's wands from me. He then went and embraced Black like a brother. I was boiling with rage, I had been protecting him because I thought he was good. I screamed at him, I told him I knew his secret, I knew he was a werewolf. I told him I'd protected him, and all the while he'd been helping Black, I had never hated anyone as much as I hated Remus Lupin in that moment. He simply told us that he was not helping Sirius Black. None of us believed him so he began his explanation. He told us that he had believed, like us, that Black was guilty. He explained to us that he saw someone on the Marauders map, which he had confiscated from Harry when he'd caught him with it a few weeks earlier. The person on the Map was Peter Pettigrew, who was dead. I told him the Map was wrong, but he said the map was never wrong. Harry asked him how he knew, and he said he'd written it. He then told us he'd followed us because he'd seen both Peter and Sirius come with us through the Whomping Willow tunnel. We were completely confused, Peter Pettigrew was not with us. Lupin said that Scabbers was really Peter, we all thought he was absolutely insane, but he begged us to let him explain. Sirius seemed hell bent on killing the rat, but Lupin got him to calm down, he said Harry deserved and explanation. I was completely confused, but I figured if it would buy us time, I would listen to anything they had to say. He said that Peter had faked his own death and turned it a rat, putting the blame on Sirius. I pointed out that if Peter Pettigrew were an Animagus he would have to be registered, so that didn't make sense, yet even as I was saying it a realized something. Sirius Black was obviously and Animagus, and no one knew about him. Lupin explained to me that Sirius, Peter and Harry's father James had all learned how to be Animagus's while at Hogwarts, so that they could be with him once a month when he turned into a werewolf, because werewolves don't hurt animals, only humans. They had never told anyone about their secret power. Suddenly things were starting to make a lot of sense. Harry spat that all of this didn't prove anything, and Sirius made to begin his part of the story but just then, Professor Snape walked in. I was so relieved, we were saved, then Snape told Lupin he was giving him to the dementors with Black, I felt bad for him but I wasn't one hundred percent sure he was innocent either. I asked Professor Snape if we could just hear them out first and he began to scream at me, this of course set Harry of who began to scream at Snape. Things were deteriorating quickly Snape was threatening Harry and I saw him reaching for his wand. I quickly sent the disarming spell at him but unfortunately I wasn't the only one. Both Harry and Ron did the exact same thing and the combined force slammed Snape into the wall and knocked him unconscious. I was beside myself, I had attacked a teacher, I knew I would be expelled for this. I sat on the bed and rocked back and forth in shock and fear. Harry released the men and let them continue their story. Sirius explained that he had been the Secret Keeper for his parents, but at the last minute he asked them to switch to Peter secretly for their own protection. Peter had betrayed them, Sirius was the one who chased him down, and then Peter framed Sirius and turned into a rat. I had to admit the story was plausible, and it made quite a few things make sense, but there was only one way to know for sure. Ron didn't want them to hurt Scabbers but Lupin assured him that if he was really a rat the spell would do nothing. Sirius and Lupin did the spell and to my utter amazement Scabbers turned into an ugly mangy little man, who had very rat like features. The little man begged and pleaded with each of us, but now we knew the truth. Lupin and Sirius stood over him read to kill him, I closed my eyes and cover my ears, I couldn't watch, but Harry stopped them. He said his Dad wouldn't have wanted his best friends to become killers, so they should arrest Peter and give him to the dementors. That also meant that Sirius would finally be free, I was very proud of Harry for making that choice.

As we walked along the tunnel Harry and Sirius spoke. Sirius asked him if he would like to live with him once he was cleared, since he was his godfather. Harry was stunned but then said enthusiastically that he would love to. I was very happy for him, I wanted more than anything for Harry to have a proper family. We immerged from the Whomping Willow tunnel and immediately I knew something was wrong. Ron and Lupin had each handcuffed one of Pettigrew's arms to them so he couldn't get away, when we got out of the tunnel Professor Lupin was standing rigid in the moonlight and the other two were looking at him in fear. Suddenly I realized what was going on Lupin hadn't take the Potion that controlled his transformation. I gasped this to Sirius and Harry and Sirius told us to run, that he would take care of it, but I couldn't move, Ron was chained to him, and I wasn't leaving until he was safe. I stood watching in horror as Sirius turned into a huge dog and attacked the werewolf. The werewolf had broken the chain that connected him to the other two and I screamed as Pettigrew dove for Lupin's discarded wand toppling Ron to the ground. There was a loud bang and then Ron was lying motionless on the ground. Harry quickly disarmed Peter but he turned into a rat and ran away. Sirius charged after him, and we ran to Ron. Relief coursed through me as I saw he was alive we were just discussing what to do, when we heard a yelp, after a moments indecision Harry ran down the hill after Sirius, I looked once more at Ron and then forced myself to do the same. As we ran towards him I felt the cold increasing and I knew what was coming. We found Sirius but the dementors were already closing in. Harry gasped the Patronus charm and told me to do the same, I tried but nothing came. He told me to think of something happy but I couldn't, I was drowning in sorrow and ice. Everything was going black, I would never see my parents again…. Harry was dying… I would never see Ron's smile again… then I was gone.

I awoke in the hospital wing. I heard Snape outside the door with the Minister, he was telling him what had happened in the Shrieking Shack, I was immensely grateful that he seemed to think we were confounded but I was still terrified. They had Sirius and they thought he was guilty! Harry opened his eye next to me, he looked over at me and I pressed my finer to his lips for him to be quiet. Just then Madam Pomfrey came in and saw we were awake. Both Harry and I immediately asked about Ron, who was lying in a bed a little ways down from ours. She said he would live, and I felt a tiny portion of the weight lift from my stomach. Harry jumped out of bed to run and find Dumbledore and tell him the truth, Madam Pomfrey assured us that Black had been caught and the Dementors were going to suck his soul out any minute. She had meant this to be reassuring but it made us even more frantic, we ran into the hall and tried to get the Minister to listen to us, but Snape just kept saying we were confounded, and then Madam Pomfrey shooed us back into the hospital wing. We were just losing all hope when Dumbledore came in. We quickly explained to him the story, and to my overwhelming relief he believed us. Unfortunately he went on to say that no one else would and we had no hard proof. I was in despair, we couldn't let a innocent man endure such a horrible fate. He looked at me very intently as he said, that the only thing that would save Sirius was more time. I was completely confused for a second, then I remembered the tiny hour glass around my neck, and I gasped in realization. Dumbledore quickly gave me instruction, he told me where Sirius was being held, he told me to go back three turns (three hours), and that we couldn't be seen. I grabbed Harry and threw the time turner over his neck. I turned it three times and we appeared in the Entrance Hall at seven o'clock. I immediately realized we were going to be coming down the stairs any minute so I pulled harry in to cupboard, and explained everything. It took a moment for it all to sink in, but then when we heard ourselves on the other side of the cupboard door he finally accepted it. I was confused as to what we were supposed to do, but within a few minutes Harry had it figured out. Sirius was going to be held on the third floor, Dumbledore wanted us to save Buckbeak the hippogriff and fly him up there at ten. I was glad to know what we needed to do but also completely unsure of how to do it. We ran down the hill being extra careful to stay out of our own line of sight, and waited outside Hagrid's hut, we realized that we couldn't steal Buckbeak before the Minister saw him or they would suspect Hagrid. This gave us very little time indeed; we had just barely gotten the hippogriff into the woods when they exited the cabin to come execute it. We saw the swish and thunk of the axe as the executioner slammed in into the fence in frustration. Hagrid howled but it was in happiness, not in anguish as we had previously thought. Harry asked what we were supposed to do now, and I told him we had to wait. We went through the forest to a spot where we could see the Whomping Willow and we waited. Soon enough we saw ourselves get to the tree, Harry wanted to go get Scabbers right then but I had to remind him that we couldn't be seen, if we messed with time it could have devastating consequences. I winced as I heard Ron's leg break for the second time that night. Then we were in the tree and there was nothing for Harry and I to do but wait, we saw Lupin and then Snape go in a few moments later. We sat there in silence for awhile and then I decided to ask Harry something that was on my mind. I asked him how we had gotten away from the dementors, he said someone had shot a Patronus at the last moment. I asked if he saw who it was, and he paused. After a long silence, he quietly said he thought it had been his Dad. I wasn't sure what to say, I gently reminded him that his Dad was dead. He quickly said he knew that. I asked him if it was a ghost and he said it looked real. I wasn't quite sure what to say to that, but he turned away from me towards Buckbeak, and was quiet. I looked back at the tree and let myself be lost in my own thoughts, I thought about Ron, about the moment he had held me, about the moment I thought he might be dead. I didn't know how in the world someone could mean so much to me, but at the same time I was still confused. I didn't feel about Ron the way that I thought I was supposed to. I couldn't picture Ron as my boyfriend, at least not what I thought a boyfriend was supposed to be, and there was something else that bothered me even more. What if he didn't feel anything for me? He had never really shown any signs of having feelings for me that were anything more than friendship, maybe I was just reading too much into everything. Just then we all immerged from the tree again. Harry suddenly grabbed me and said we needed to move, he had realized that Lupin was now a werewolf and was running right toward us. We tore through the forest as fast as we could, and we ran into Hagrid's cabin for safety because it was deserted. My heart was pounding and I was terrified. Harry said he wanted to go outside to check on things, but I was suspicious, this was about the time he thought he saw his father. I let him go but after a few minutes had passed I followed him. Sure enough I found him standing on the other side of the lake from where are bodies were lying. I breathlessly asked him what he had done; he told me that he had conjured the Patronus. I asked if anyone had seen him, and he explained that he had seen himself, that's why he thought it was his dad. I was relieved to have that explained but we had very little time left, we climbed on Buckbeak and flew up to where Sirius was being held captive. To say that I didn't like the ride on the hippogriff would be an understatement, but we freed Sirius and then landed on the grounds. Sirius was apologizing to Harry for everything and hugging him but we urged him to go, we didn't want him to be caught. He gave us one last smile and flew off into the night. Harry and I had to race to make it back to the hospital wing in time, but we did. Snape of course was furious that Black had escaped, and he tried to convince everyone that Harry had helped him but there was of course no proof.

All three of us got out of the hospital wing the next day. There was of course a lot of murmuring about the incident with Sirius Black, and many fantastic stories were flying around. We also found out that Snape had let it slip that Lupin was a werewolf so he was leaving. We were all livid and Harry went to see him, he told us later that Lupin seemed fine. He hadn't planned on teaching at Hogwarts long term anyway. We got on the Hogwarts Express a few days later and headed home, about halfway through the ride Harry got a wonderful surprise. An adorable little owl fluttered into our compartment, and dropped a letter in Harry's lap. Sirius had signed his permission slip for Hogsmeade, and we all knew that Dumbledore would accept Sirius's position as Harry's godfather. There was also a note attached saying that Ron could have the owl since Sirius technically deprived Ron of his rat. Ron was overjoyed, and I grinned when he held the little owl out to Crookshanks to sniff. When Crookshanks pronounced him acceptable Ron said he was keeping him, and he shot a wink in my direction. I felt myself blush. We got off at King's Cross and Ron mentioned to Harry that he should come stay with him for the Quidditch World Cup later that summer. Harry smiled at him and then went to meet his Aunt and Uncle. We watched him, and in a stroke of brilliance Harry happened to let it slip to them that he had a mass murderer for a godfather who was corresponding with him to see how he was doing. Ron and I laughed at the looks of horror that crossed their faces, and I felt immensely relieved knowing Harry would be treated much better this summer. When my parents pulled up I ran over and hopped in the car but as I went to shut the door Ron was there. He leaned down and asked me if I was going to come stay with him for the World Cup, I explained to my parents what it was, and they said they didn't see why I couldn't go. Ron smiled and said goodbye to me, then he shut the car door. My Mum turned and asked me who the boy was, I smiled at her and said he was my friend Ron Weasley.


	5. Chapter 4

_Chapter 4_

I spent most of the summer at home with my parents. My mother remarked on more than one occasion that there was something different about me but she wasn't quite sure what it was. I thought I might have an idea but I wasn't about to say it. Towards the middle of August Ron sent me a letter asking if I could come to the Burrow the next Wednesday. I would stay with his family until the end of break and go to the Quidditch World Cup with them, and then they would take me back to school. My parents had already agreed to this, but my father was slightly hesitant about me staying at a boy's house. I insisted that his whole family was going to be there, and besides that Ron and I were just friends so there was nothing to worry about. Ron wrote and gave me directions to his house. I was slightly surprised that we could just drive there, but then again it was just a house. My parents and I pulled up to Ron's house, which was called the Burrow, the next Wednesday. I remember the first time I saw it I knew I was going to like staying there. I got out of the car and Ron, and most of his family came out to greet me. Mr. and Mrs. Weasley said hello to my parents, and told them I would be in very good hands. My parents and I said our goodbyes, and then Ron helped me lug my school trunk into the house. I got set up in Ginny's room and then Ron gave me a tour of his house. It was very cozy and sweet, he told me Harry would be there on Sunday and then we went out into the garden to play a game of Quidditch with his brothers, I was very bad at it, but they put me on a team with the twins who were very good so it worked out. The first few days at Ron's house were very fun, his family was very nice to me, Ginny and I got along well. I often saw Ron's older brothers, especially the twins poking him in the ribs and making faces at him anytime Ron and I would do anything together but he usually just glared at them and then ignored them.

Harry arrived on Sunday. Ginny and I heard a commotion in the kitchen and went down to hear that the twins had given Harry's cousin one of their joke candies and swelled his tongue. Their mum was hopping mad and I quickly suggested to Ron that we show Harry where he was sleeping. Ron took the hint after a minute and we all went up to his room. Ron and Ginny told Harry all about the twins plan to start an underground joke line at Hogwarts, they all seemed to think it was hilarious, but I was not amused. We began to talk about our summers and what we had done, we talked about Ron's brother Percy and his new job working for Barty Crouch at the Ministry. Ron and Ginny were both annoyed at how pompous he was being and even I, who liked Percy most of the time, had to agree. When the subject changed and we came very close to talking about Sirius, I quickly suggested we go help Mrs. Weasley with dinner. Ginny was looking at us curiously and I knew we couldn't break that secret. We had an enjoyable dinner, the boys talked about the Quidditch World Cup. I didn't know much about Quidditch I was more joining in for the experience, then Percy started talking about some secret thing that was happening at Hogwarts that year, it was obvious that he wanted us to ask him about it but none of us bit, so he gave up in frustration looking rather pouty. Mrs. Weasley shooed us off to bed early so we could be up in time to catch our Portkey in the morning. Ginny and I went to bed that night full of excitement and giggling over what was to come the next day.

Early the next morning Mrs. Weasley woke us up, Ginny and stumbled downstairs to find the boys at the table already looking very sleepy. Mr. Weasley told us we had to go for a walk, we hiked about a mile up the road and Mr. Weasley explained to us all the security measures that had been put in place for the Cup. At the top of the hill we met up with a man who introduced himself as Amos Diggory and his son Cedric. I knew Cedric at once, he went to Hogwarts. He was in Hufflepuff and had a reputation because he was one of the best looking boys in the school. He politely said hello, and then Mr. Weasley and Mr. Diggory made small talk for a few minutes. Out of the corner of my eye I saw Ron's eyes go from me to Diggory and back, and I had to contain a smirk, because I knew he was gauging my reaction to him. Just then the nasty old boot that was lying on the ground beside us glowed blue and Mr. Weasley told us all to touch it. It felt like a hook pulled us from behind the navel, and we were swung quickly through the air and we landed hard on the outskirts of a field full of tents. We found our plot and the boys began setting up the tents I must admit it was quite funny to watch them try and do it without magic. After they had gotten them set up Ginny and I took our stuff into ours and I was floored. When I went inside the tent, it was the size of a small flat, there was a living room and a bed room, a kitchen and even a bathroom. We set up our things and then Ron and Harry showed up, we gave them the tour and then I left with them to collect water. We bumped into many of our school mates along the way. We saw that one area of the camp was plastered with green in support of the Irish. The other half seemed to be plastered with pictures of one person. It was a very gruff looking man, no… on second thought I didn't think he looked old enough to be called a man he was still a boy. But huge pictures of him were plastered all over the tents. Ron informed me that he was Viktor Krum, the best Seeker in the entire world. We got water and then went back to the tent, Mr. Weasley was having an awful time with the matches so I helped him and soon we got a fire going and started lunch. We had a pleasant afternoon and around dusk we all made our way towards the Stadium. It was very exciting, I had never seen such a big crowd, all the boys bought souvenirs, and we headed to our seats. I read the program and saw that team mascots would be doing a display before the match. I was interested to see what they were. Just then a whole crowd of creatures came out onto the field, they were like nothing I had ever seen before, their hair looked like molten silver, and in some ways they looked like tall beautiful women, but strangely distorted. I heard Mr. Weasley call them veela, I was about to ask them what they were when they started to dance. Suddenly both Harry and Ron made like they were about to jump out of the box, they both looked like they were about to start drooling. I was completely disgusted, but Mr. Weasley just laughed, he leaned over and told me that what veela did, they enchanted men. Both boys sat down in a daze and began destroying their Ireland souvenirs, Mr. Weasley stopped them and told them to wait till Ireland got there chance. I rolled my eyes at the two of them. A moment later hundreds of leprechauns filled the sky making a rainbow and showering us with gold. Harry and Ron were immediately routing for Ireland again. Then the players came out first was the Bulgarian team, the last of which was Viktor Krum. He was a very intimidating looking boy with bushy eyebrows and pale skin. Next came Ireland, they were mostly red haired and seemed to be very quick and spunky. The game was very exciting, Ireland was soundly beating Bulgaria and soon it became apparent that Bulgaria was not going to pull back. Suddenly out of nowhere Viktor Krum caught the Snitch and ended the game. Bulgaria unfortunately didn't have enough points to beat Ireland, and the green fans went wild. Ron was cheering as he asked why in the world Krum would catch the Snitch when he knew they were down, and Harry said Krum must have known they wouldn't catch up and wanted to end the game on his own terms. I thought that seemed was very classy of him.

We all went back to the tent and talked for over an hour about the match. Only after Ginny fell asleep in her hot cocoa did Mr. Weasley send us to bed. Ginny and I went to our tent but we were woken up just a few hours later by what sounded like screams coming from outside. We went out and saw the boys standing outside their tent. We ran to them and then we all turned to see the commotion, there was a group of masked figures and they were levitating a family in the air. I recognized them as the Muggles who ran the campsite and I knew immediately what was going on. Mr. Weasley told us to run and we did. Harry, Ron, and I got battered by the crowd and I heard Ron cry out. I couldn't find him so I lit my wand and found him sprawled on the ground. I was helping him up when Draco Malfoy showed up. He of course began mocking Ron right away and then he turned on me, he said I should watch myself because the people in the campsite were targeting Muggles, and Mudbloods were hardly better. Ron of course reacted as soon as he threatened me and I had to grab his arm to hold him back. After a few more moments I was straining to keep him and Harry off of Malfoy and I begged them to come with me to find Ron's family, finally they acquiesced and we kept walking. We ran into Winky, who was Barty Crouches house elf, she was walking though the woods like she was in water; her steps were slow and looked almost painful. Harry explained she probably didn't have permission to leave her tent. I was very angry, we had seen the same elf sitting terrified in our box at the Cup, because her master ordered her to save his seat, not caring that she was terrified of hights. I thought that house elves did not seem to be treated very well. Suddenly we stopped we heard someone behind us, Harry called out but no one answered. Suddenly the person sent a spell into the air, we looked up and saw a huge skull with a snake for a tongue, I knew what it was immediately and told the boys to run. Harry was confused and asked me what was going on, I quickly told him that was Voldemort's symbol, the Dark Mark. We turned to run but suddenly the woods around us were full of people. Harry screamed 'duck' and pulled us to the ground just in time as stunning spells flew over us. Mr. Weasley yelled at them to stop and came to our rescue, Barty Crouch seemed to think we had done it until someone pointed out that we were just children, and couldn't have possibly conjured the mark. They searched the woods and found Winky stunned and holding Harry's wand, which he had lost in the woods earlier. The wand was proven to have cast the spell, and even though Winky pleaded that she didn't do it, and we kept saying the voice was not hers, it was human, her master dismissed her and left her sobbing in the woods. I was furious, I thought it was disgusting that someone would treat a living creature that way. Mr. Weasley took us all back to the tent and told us that the Death Eaters had ran off when they saw the mark. They were the ones who had not stayed loyal after the fall so they were afraid that it might have been Voldemort himself. Whether the person who sent it up meant it for good or evil we couldn't know. Ginny and I went back to our tent but neither of us slept much that night.

The next day we returned to the Burrow and Mrs. Weasley was beside herself. When she was sure that all of us were completely ok, she let us enter the house and Harry quickly pulled Ron and I up to his room. He told us that his scar had been hurting him again when he was on Privet Drive last week, and he had simultaneously had a dream about Voldemort. He said he dreamed that Voldemort and Pettigrew were together but Voldemort wasn't quite human yet, and he was looking for Harry, apparently Harry was the last piece to his resurrection. Ron told him it was probably just a dream, but Harry was unconvinced, Professor Trelawny, had prophesied to Harry the year before that the Dark Lord would rise again even more powerful, and he was worried. I personally put no stock in her prophesies and told him so, he said that time was different, and I decided to leave it at that. We spent our last week of break rather peacefully, Mrs. Weasley had gotten all of our school thing s from Diagon Alley and I spent much of my time engrossed in my new books. I had dropped Muggle Studies, so I no longer needed my time turner, which I was grateful for. The next Saturday was September first and we all headed to King's Cross to get on the train. As we were getting on the train Charlie gave us a cryptic message about seeing us soon, but wouldn't tell us anything, and Mrs. Weasley also hinted about something exciting at Hogwarts. We were all very curious, but they wouldn't give us any more information, which annoyed Ron to no end. He got even grouchier when Draco Malfoy stopped by our compartment soon after the train left and began to gloat when he found out that he knew the secret and we didn't, by the time he left Ron was in a completely foul mood for the rest of the trip.

We got to Hogwarts and it was pouring rain. We made our way to the carriages and then up to the castle. We were soaked when we sat down for the feast but we were nothing compared to the poor first years, they looked like they had swum across the lake not ridden in boats. We watched the Sorting and then the food appeared on our plates. I was beginning to eat when I heard Nearly Headless Nick mention something about the house elves and I stopped dead. I asked him if house elves made our food and he said yes. I was livid, I had been eating food made by slaves! I pushed my plates away, and didn't eat another bight. Ron tried to tell me that I wasn't going to prove anything by starving myself but I didn't listen to him. I would not eat food made by enslaved creatures. When the feast was over Dumbledore stood to address us. He went through his usual speech, he then announced that there would be no Quidditch that year, something Harry and the Weasley twins, along with many others were very outraged about. Dumbledore went on to say it was because of a special event that was going to take place. He was about to tell us what the event was when the doors of the Great Hall flew open and a terrifying figure stood there. He was a man, but his face was so badly scarred it was hard to see, he had one small dark eye and one large bright blue one. He clunked his way towards the staff table on his wooden leg and Dumbledore went on to announce that he was our new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher Alastair Moody. Ron, George, and Fred leaned in to tell me and Harry that Alastair "Mad-eye" Moody was one of the most famous Aurors, and he had gotten so scarred from fighting and taking down hundreds of dark wizards, I was very excited, I knew we would learn a lot from him. Dumbledore then continued his speech, he announced that Hogwarts would be hosting the Tri-Wizard Tournament. Many of the people in the room including myself gasped, I had read about the Tri-Wizard Tournament, it used to be one of the biggest competitions in the magical world, but it had been banned because the death toll got too high. Dumbledore explained the competition had been redesigned, to be safer, and then he announced that for safety measures only students who were of age could put their names in. There was quite a cry of outrage at this, but Dumbledore did not seem bothered. He explained that the Beauxbatons Academy of Magic and The Durmstrang School of Wizardy would be sending representatives in October, and that the selection of champions would take place on Halloween, with that he dismissed us to bed. It took me a few minutes to get Ron and his brothers out the door, and they were already trying to hatch schemes to get themselves entered when I left them at the entrance to the girls dormitory.

Our first day of classes went by as usual. Hagrid had some horrible new animals that I thought he might have created himself by cross breeding. Professor Vector told us in Arthimancy that we would finally be able to start getting into the more technical aspects of the subject. Defense Against the Dark Arts was wonderful, Moody really knew what he was talking about and he was fascinating to listen to, if not a little frightening. When I wasn't in class I was spending all my free time in the library, I had come up with an idea. I knew I couldn't keep not eating, so I had though of a different way to do something about the injustices of house elves, but it was going to take some research. A few days later we had a very enlightening Defense Against the Dark Arts class. Moody showed us the Unforgivable Curses, they were three curses that earned you a spot in Azkaban for any us on a human being. The minute he said he was going to show them to us I was nervous, two of the three were horribly nasty things. He asked us to name them, Ron gave him the Imperius Curse which he showed us, it made the cursed person do whatever was asked of them. Then he asked for another, Neville gave him the Cruciatus Curse. It was a torture curse, he used it on a spider which instinctively curled up in agony. I wasn't watching the spider though, I was watching Neville his face held almost as much agony as the spider and it was growing. Finally I shouted at Moody to stop and he seemed to realize what he had done, quickly moved on and asked for the last curse. I slowly raised my hand and whispered it, Avada Kedavra, the Killing Curse. He brought the spider to my desk and killed it right in front of me. After the lesson was over I walked quickly out of the room to find Neville, he still seemed very shaken up but before I could try and comfort him Professor Moody showed up, he took Neville to his office for a cup of tea and I went to dinner with Ron and Harry. I ate quickly and ran back to the library, I was almost done with my project for house elves. When I had finished I ran to tell Ron and Harry, I'd started an organization to help house elves, it was called the Society for the Promotion of Elfish Welfare, SPEW. I was bursting with excitement when I told the boys. They didn't seem all that enthusiastic, but they also didn't say no to joining so I was satisfied. Just then Hedwig, Harry's owl, showed up with a letter form Sirius. Harry read it and was very upset because he found out that Sirius was now coming back up North because of how Harry's scar was hurting. He sent him a letter to try to dissuade him, but I wasn't sure it was such a good idea, Harry's scar hurting could mean something significant and as worried as I was about Sirius, I knew he wouldn't came back unless he though he needed to.

A few weeks later the delegates from the other schools arrived. It was the day before Halloween, and we all went out to the steps to greet them. We waited on the steps and soon a huge powder blue carriage came out of the sky. It was pulled by giant horses, and as soon as it landed we saw why. The Headmistress of Beauxbatons, seemed to be a very large woman. Almost as tall as Hagrid, she greeted Dumbledore kindly, and then her students stepped out. They were obviously dressed for the warmer French whether, but they had wrapped up in scarves and shawls. Dumbledore led them into the castle and we waited for Durmstrang, everyone seemed to think they would arrive in a carriage as well, but a few moments later we watched as a proud ship rose slowly out of the lake. The Durmstrang boys came hiking up the hill and it was obvious they had come from somewhere much colder, they were dressed in warm furs. The boys passed us and when the last boy, who was with their headmaster, passed Ron almost fainted. He began gasping that it was Viktor Krum. I told him to get a grip on himself, he was only a Quidditch player after all. We went into the Great Hall and found that the girls from Beauxbatons had joined the Ravenclaw table, and the Durmstrang boys had joined the Slytherin table, a fact that Ron of course complained loudly about. Dumbledore gave his welcoming speech and I was annoyed when on of the Beauxbatons girls snorted derisively when he said he hoped they were comfortable. I whispered in her direction that no one was making her stay, but she ignored me. We then went on to eat the feast, there was a lot of foreign food, that was obviously for our guests. After a few minutes the rude girl came to our table and asked us if we were going to eat our bouillabaisse. Even I had to admit she was very beautiful. Ron on the other hand sat there with his mouth hanging open, Harry had to answer the question for him. When she took the bowl Ron managed to pathetically gasp that he had loved the soup even though he hadn't even tried it. When the girl left he starting saying she was a veela, and I pointed out no one else had made an idiot of themselves. He simply said she wasn't a normal girl, and that they didn't make them like that at Hogwarts. Harry retorted that they made them pretty good at Hogwarts and I saw his eyes flash towards the Ravenclaw table as well, but I knew he was looking at their Seeker Cho Chang, who he had fancied since the previous year. I was thoroughly annoyed and slightly hurt by Ron's comment. If they didn't make them like that at Hogwarts, that meant I was nothing special, and Ron had certainly never had that reaction when he saw me. Dumbledore was now speaking again, and he showed us how the Champions would be decided, The Goblet of Fire. It was a Chalice full of Blue flames. He assured us that it could not be fooled by age spells or any other kind of magic we might try. He informed us that all students wishing to participate would have to put their name in by the next day. Then he sent us all to bed. We headed for the door, but when we got there we had an encounter with the Headmaster of Durmstrang, Igor Karkaroff, he looked at Harry and his eyes widened with recognition. Just then Moody showed up and told Karkaroff to move along and it couldn't have been plainer that they knew each other and they were not friends. As this exchange was taking place Viktor Krum, who was standing next to Karkaroff, looked at me and we held eye contact for a moment. He gave me a shy little smile and waved his hand slightly in greeting. I was caught off guard, but I waved and smiled back, I guess I had been so used to thinking of him as a world famous Quidditch player, that I hadn't stopped to realize that he was just a normal boy as well.

The next day we went down to the Great Hall early to see what was going on. People of course were trying to break the age rule, but none as grandly as Fred and George, who made quite a scene of their adding their names and then were immediately struck with big long white flowing beards. We sat around and talked about who might be Hogwarts Champion, Ron didn't want it to be Cedric he said he was a twat. I defended him saying Ron just didn't like him because he was a prefect, and Ron retorted that the only reason I did like him was because he was handsome. I asked him if he really thought I was that shallow and he coughed something that sounded suspiciously like, Lockhart. I turned red and changed the subject, I told them we should go visit Hagrid, so we did. We spent a pleasant afternoon with Hagrid. I tried to convince him to join SPEW but he just told me that freeing House elves would be unkind to them because they like being slaves. This was the answer I was getting from everyone, and I was starting to think my cause might simply be lost. Around dinner time we all went back up to the castle, for the feast. We saw the Durmstrang group on their way up and Ron pathetically tried to get Viktor Krum's attention, but it didn't work. We all ate the Halloween feast and then we sat in anticipation as Dumbledore stood. He gave a speech about the eternal glory that awaited the winner of the Tri-Wizard Cup, and then he turned to the cup. It turned red and spit out a small piece of parchment, Dumbledore read that the Durmstrang Champion would be Viktor Krum. We all clapped and cheered as he shuffled up and took his parchment, he turned and walked through the door to the right that was for Champions. I noticed that he almost seemed uncomfortable with all the attention. It looked like he didn't really like being famous, just like Harry. I thought to myself that he seemed like he was much more complicated than I first would have guessed. The Beauxbatons champion was the silvery haired girl that Ron had been fawning over. Her name was Fleur Delacour. I was slightly annoyed with how vigorously Ron cheered for her, and how happy he looked, but I let it go. Next was the Hogwarts Champion it ended up being Cedric, and I cheered for him, even though Ron groaned in disappointment. After Cedric had entered the room, Dumbledore told us that concluded the ceremony and was about to send us all back to our Dormitories, when something else happened. The Goblet glowed red again and another piece of Parchment shot out of it. I knew this was wrong, there were only supposed to be three champions. Dumbledore looked at the paper and then read the name, Harry Potter.

We all stared at Harry in shock. He quickly whispered to Ron and I that he didn't put his name in. I believed him, I knew he didn't know powerful enough magic to trick that Goblet. Dumbledore called his name again and I urged him towards the front of the room. He went up and they ushered him through the door with the other champions. I had no clue what was going on, but I was very worried. As we stood up to leave I noticed that Ron was very quiet. I asked him if he was ok, and he said he was fine, but I knew he was lying. Half way to Gryffindor he told me that he wished Harry had told him how to put his name in the Goblet, and not just taken all the glory for himself. I told him gently that I really didn't think Harry did it, but he didn't seem to believe me, he shrugged me off and went to the boys' dormitory. I decided to go to bed to, but it was hard to sleep with all the yelling and celebrating I heard going on in the Common Room. The next morning I went down to breakfast and found Ron sitting by himself looking glum. I asked him what was wrong and he told me he and Harry had gotten into a fight the night before and now they weren't speaking. I asked him if he really thought that Harry put his name in the goblet. He sighed and turned to look at me, he said he wasn't sure if he did or he didn't, but that wasn't the point. The point was he was sick of always being 'just Harry Potter's friend' he got enough of being overlooked as the youngest boy, and now he had a famous best friend, so no one ever noticed him. I really wanted to say that I noticed him, but I wasn't sure how he would take it, so I simply patted him on the arm and told him I was sorry. Later that day I tried to talk with Harry about this but he just got angry and said Ron was being stupid and that Harry would trade places with him anytime he liked. It was maddening not having my best friends talking but I tried to make the best of it. I convinced Harry that he should tell Sirius about the Tri-Wizard Tournament because Sirius had asked him to tell him anything suspicious. I felt very bad for Harry over the next few days, everyone was either praising him more than he ever wanted or treating him like garbage. Then a few days later right before Potions class, Malfoy and his cronies started picking on him and flashing horrible badges that read Potter Stinks. Then when Malfoy called me a Mudblood once again, things got out of control they began sending hexes at each other but unfortunately they both missed and Harry's hit Goyle and Draco's hit me! I felt pain in my mouth and was horrified to feel my front teeth growing down over my bottom lip. Ron who was standing against the far wall with Seamus and Dean ran to me as soon as I was hit he pulled my hand away from my mouth to see what had happened. When Snape came out and asked what had happened Draco quickly told him his side of things, and Snape sent Goyle to the hospital wing. Ron immediately said I got hurt too and made me show him my teeth, he gave me a horrible look and sneered that I looked the same. I turned and ran towards the hospital wing feeling humiliated, but as I ran up the stairs I heard Ron and Harry both shouting some of the rudest names I'd ever heard someone call a teacher at Snape. I hoped that maybe it would make them finally make up. Unfortunately nothing had changed when I got out of the hospital wing the next day. Harry had apparently been pulled out of Potions class to have an interview for the press which made Ron even angrier. A few days later the interview came out and apparently Rita Skeeter had somehow decided that Harry and I were romantically involved. The day it came out Ron was being very grouchy with me, which was strange because we had been getting along fine. Finally in the evening when we were doing homework together in the library I confronted him on it and asked him what in the world was his problem? He pulled out the out the paper and slapped it down in front of me, he asked me if it was true. I rolled my eyes at him and pointed out that he spent more time with Harry and I then anyone else, if we were dating I think he might have noticed. I went on to tell him that I had absolutely no feelings for Harry like that, and it was just the newspapers trying to get a story. I asked him why he cared so much, and he turned slightly pink. He answered that he just didn't like thinking his best friends were going around behind his back and not telling him things, and then he went back to work on his Potions homework. Somehow I thought there might be more to it than that but maybe it was just wishful thinking. The other thing that was beginning to annoy me was that Viktor Krum always kept turning up in the library, and no matter where I worked he seemed to find a place near by to sit an read, this was frustrating because he was always followed by a gaggle of silly simpering girls, and their giggling made it very hard for me to get my work done.

Harry and I went to Hogsmeade together about a week later. It wasn't the most fun trip because he stayed under the Cloak the whole time, but we got some interesting news when Hagrid joined us in the Three Broomsticks and asked Harry to come visit him under the Cloak that night. I was upset that Hagrid was asking him to break rules again, but I knew he would go anyway. I spent the evening in the Common Room with Ron and Ginny, Ron seemed quieter than usual, I asked him what was wrong and he simply said he didn't want to talk about it so I let it go. Ginny and I played a few games of Exploding Snap before we all went to bed. The next morning I was eating breakfast with Ginny when Harry showed up beside me after I had finished eating he pulled me out onto the grounds to talk. He told me that Hagrid had shown him the first task and it was dragons. Then he said that he had talked to Sirius the night before and Sirius had told him that whoever put his name in the goblet probably was trying to get him killed, and he told him to watch out for Igor Karkaroff who used to be a Death Eater. Both of these pieces of news scared me, but I thought the dragon was the more pressing issue so we went to the Library to look up everything we could on them. Unfortunately I couldn't find many helpful spells that I thought Harry would be able to master in time for the first task. Then Viktor Krum showed up again and I told Harry we should go before his fan club showed up, as we got up to leave I thought I saw Krum watching me out of the corner of my eye. The next day Harry and I were walking towards Herbology when suddenly he said he catch up with me and he ran off, he was almost half an hour late when he finally came running in. He told me breathlessly that I had to help him learn a Summoning Charm. After class he explained he had run to tell Cedric about the dragons and Moody overheard him. He had called him into his Office and helped him come up with a plan. He was going to learn a Summoning Charm and then summon his Firebolt. The whole point of the challenge was to get a golden egg from the dragon and with his broom Harry would have no trouble at all. We practiced long into the night, and finally Harry got it, I felt much better about his chances now.

The next morning was the morning of the challenge, Ron and I walked towards the Stadium together in silence. Suddenly as I looked at Ron's grave face something registered. I asked him if he knew what Harry was up against and he looked back at me, he said of course he did, Charlie had shown him last week. He asked why else he would have been so bloody worried all week. I put my hand on his arm, I was going to ask him yet again why he and Harry didn't just make up. He looked down at me with an understanding and kind gaze and he softly said 'I know', as if to answer my question before I asked it. We took seats in the stands and after a few minutes Dumbledore made the announcement that the task was to begin. The dragon handlers pulled a bluish grey dragon into the arena and chained it to a peg by a nest of eggs, they were all real except one golden one. Even though we were sitting high enough up, that the dragon couldn't hurt us I felt a surge of fear. Cedric came into the arena and everyone cheered. The dragon saw him and advanced but he quickly turned a rock a little way away into a dog and it began barking furiously at the dragon, as soon as it had turned it's attention to the dog Cedric started careful sneaking around the edge towards the nest. We held our breathe for five whole painstaking minutes. He grabbed the golden egg and began to run for the entrance but the dragon saw him and sent a jet of flame in his direction. I screamed and put my face on Ron's shoulder. A second later he leaned over and told me it was fine, I looked up and Cedric was now standing with the egg just outside the dragon's reach. He had a nasty burn on the right side of his face but he was grinning ear to ear. The judges gave him his points and he left the arena. They took the dragon out and brought in a smaller bright green dragon that looked a lot like the dragons in story books. A moment later Fleur entered the arena, I glanced at Ron and sure enough he was watching her with rapt attention. She put a spell on the dragon that seemed to make it sleepy, it swayed dangerously and we thought she had successfully put it to sleep but at the last second in gave a tired snort of fire that caught her skirt, she put it out quickly with water, and then began to slowly inch around the drowsy dragon until she could get to the eggs and retrieve the Golden one. She went back to the entrance and the judges gave her, her points. Then it was Krum's turn. His dragon was a huge red and gold one, with a intricate crest around it's neck. He walked into the arena determinedly, he shot a very well aimed spell that hit the dragon in the eye and it began to roar in pain and stumble around blindly. He ran to the nest and scooped up the golden egg, and then ran back to his spot. I thought he made it look very easy, and the only thing he got points off for was the fact that the dragon had crushed her own eggs while stomping around blindly. Next they brought out a vicious looking steely grey dragon with horrible spikes on it's tail. I knew it was Harry's turn and I grabbed Ron's arm and squeezed it. He reached over with his other hand and patted my shoulder in a comforting sort of way. Harry walked into the ring, I heard him do the Summoning Charm and I closed my eyes, thinking over and over again, please let it come…please let it come… a few seconds later I heard the sound of his broom come whizzing into the stadium. He mounted it and with an impressive show of skill he swooped around the Horntail and grabbed the Golden egg, I thought he had gotten out of it scot free when her tail came up and caught him in the arm. I screamed but he seemed to be all right. When he landed they quickly took him inside to be looked at before they gave his scores, Ron and I ran to the tent where they took him. When we got there he seemed ok. He and Ron looked at each other and Ron finally said that he knew Harry didn't put his name in the goblet. The boys smiled at each other and I broke down, I was so happy they were finally talking again and so mad they had put me through all that. I hugged them both and then we all went out to hear Harry's score, Ron was giving Harry a blow by blow of the other contestant all the while. We found out that Harry had gotten the best score and we were ecstatic, we went back to Gryffindor to join the party, and I was overjoyed to have my two best friends back together.

As the weather grew colder things at the castle finally seemed to go back to normal. Then in late November McGonagall made a surprise announcement. She told us that the Yule Ball would be happening on Christmas Day, and that people were expected to have a date for the dance. My heart leapt but I didn't show it. A date? Was this finally that opportunity I'd been waiting for, and the even bigger question. Would Ron actually ask me? After a few weeks went by though, it became readily apparent to me that Ron was not thinking about asking me. I was very disappointed, but I tried to put it out of my mind. As much as it hurt I felt I needed to accept the fact that Ron simply didn't feel that way about me and get on with my life, there were plenty of others boys in the world. This was the exact thing I was telling myself one night as I sat in the library working on my homework. Suddenly someone sat down at my table across from me. I looked up thinking that it would probably be Ron or Harry but to my surprise it was Viktor Krum! He gave me his shy smile and said hello. I said hello back, I was completely at a loss as to why he was talking to me. He asked me what my name was and I told him. He tried to pronounce it and gave me an apologetic look after butchering it. I smiled and told him it was alright. There was something very sweet about him, not at all pretentious or haughty as I had imagined. He told me he'd seen me in the library a lot and asked me what kinds of books I liked. We had an enjoyable talk abut our favorite authors and subjects, and then as the conversation died down he looked at me nervously. He quickly asked me if I would like to go to the Yule Ball with him. I was completely floored, he was one of the most famous people in the world. He could have had any girl in the entire school, but he wanted to go with me. I smiled and before I even had time to think about what I was doing I said yes. He grinned at me and then got up to leave, I asked him if he'd like to stay and talk some more about books. He said yes, and sat back down. When I finally got back to the Gryffindor Common Room that night there was a little bubble of happiness inside me that refused to pop, and I couldn't stop smiling. The next few weeks went by in a haze, I felt like I was leading a double life, because I would spend my days with Ron and Harry, but I'd go to the library at night under the pretense of studying and spend time with Viktor, my studies were suffering but I didn't mind. I was very happy but at the same time very confused, on the one hand I knew that I didn't feel for Viktor what I did for Ron. Yet on the other hand Viktor was enchanting, and he seemed to genuinely find me fascinating. I also felt slightly bad for Ron and Harry who were having a horrible time trying to get dates. I walked into the Common Room a few days before the Christmas holidays and saw both Harry and Ron looking glum. I asked them what was wrong and Ginny told me they'd both been turned down for the ball. Ron looked up at me and stated that I was technically a girl, I should go with one of them. I felt like slapping him right across the face. I glared at him and told him I was already going with someone. He said he knew I wasn't because I turned Neville down. That was actually true, I had turned Neville down but that was only because Viktor asked me first. I spat at Ron that just because he had taken so long to notice I was a girl didn't mean everyone had. His expression softened and he said he knew I was a girl, and he asked me to go with him again, in a much nicer way. I reiterated that I'd already been asked and stormed off. I was furious with him, here I had been waiting for him to ask me for almost a month and he has the nerve to do it like that!! I was very happy that I was going with a boy who though I was beautiful, and appreciated me. Ron and Harry ended up asking the Patil twins in the end. Actually Harry asked them for both Ron and himself, since Ron was too chicken. Ron began to ask me incessantly who I was going with but I wouldn't tell him, I knew he and Harry would tease me mercilessly. I was still meeting Viktor in the library every evening, I was beginning to grow very fond of him. Now that I knew Ron didn't have feelings for me, it was easier.

Christmas day dawned bright. I opened my presents from the boys and then went down to breakfast with them. We had a pleasant day we hung out in the Common Room all morning and the Weasley's and Harry had a snowball fight in the afternoon which I watch with enjoyment. Ginny and I left the boys at five to go get ready, Ron yelled after me and asked who I was going with but I ignored him. I was very nervous as I got ready for the Ball, I used a smoothing serum on my hair and made it nice and straight and then Ginny helped me pin it up in an intricate bun. I helped her do her hair and then we put on our robes, after we put the last touches on our make up, we smiled at each other and went down to meet our dates. Viktor met me outside the portrait hole and he smiled ear to ear when he saw me. He leaned over and kissed my hand, then he told me I looked beautiful. I felt myself blush as we walked towards the entrance hall, my arm linked through his. When we arrived McGonagall called all the champions together and Harry was staring at me in disbelief, just then I saw Ron push past us roughly and he purposefully looked in the other direction. I wondered why he was behaving so strangely, I thought with all the pestering he'd done about finding out who I was going with he'd be the first one to start teasing me. We made our way to the head table and sat down. I noticed out of the corner of my eye that Ron was watching me and glaring, but I tried to ignore him, I was here with Viktor and I wanted to enjoy his company. We had a wonderful dinner Viktor told me all about Bulgaria, and his home and also Durmstrang which sounded fascinating. Then it came time to dance, I was a little nervous but Viktor was a confident partner and he steered me easily around the dance floor. We were having wonderful time together, he made me feel so at ease. After awhile we began to get worn out from dancing so he said he would go get us drinks. I noticed that Ron and Harry were sitting on the side of the room and they looked very sulky so I went to talk to them. I asked them if they were having a good time, and told them Viktor had gone to get us drinks. Ron snapped something about why I wasn't calling him Vicky yet. I asked him what his problem was but he gruffly said if I didn't know he wasn't telling me. Yet he went on to accuse me of fraternizing with the enemy. I was furious, he was being so immature. I snapped at him that he didn't think Viktor was the enemy back when he was trying to get his autograph and he retorted that he thought the only reason Viktor was spending time with me was so to get information on Harry for Karkaroff. I stood up and looked at him, I felt like he'd slapped me across the face, he was saying no boy would want to be with me because of me. I coldly told him that Viktor had never asked me about Harry and then I stormed off. I went outside the Great Hall and cried, I couldn't believe Ron would say those things to me, why was he being to horrible? I collected myself and went back in to meet Viktor; he asked if I was alright and I said yes, then we went back to dancing. About an hour later the party came to a close, I walked with Viktor to the entrance hall and he gave me a hug goodnight, he was just kissing my hand and heading to the door when Ron and Harry walked in, I glared as coldly as a could at Ron, and then walked past him and up the stairs. I made my way back to the dormitory and was about to head up the stairs to my room, when I heard Ron call my name. I turned and saw him standing by the portrait hole looking sheepish. I waspishly asked him what he wanted and his face immediately went hard. He snapped that he was going to apologize for being rude to me, but if I was going to be a brat maybe he wouldn't. I yelled back that I didn't care if he apologized or not. He yelled at me that I was being stupid, that Krum was going to use me and I wasn't going to know better. At that moment Harry walked in. I barely noticed him I was so angry. Before I could even think about what I was saying I turned to Ron and screamed at him that the solution was next time there was a ball he should ask me before someone else did! Then I stormed up the stairs and crashed into my dormitory crying. Ginny came in and sat down next to me. I asked her why in the world her brother was being so horrible. She put a hand on my shoulder and sighed. She told asked me how in the world I couldn't see it. I looked at her and asked her what she was talking about. She explained that Ron had thought I was lying about having someone to go to the banquet with, when he saw me with Viktor it had made him insanely jealous, and this was his was of showing it. I looked up at her and said that made no sense, if Ron wanted me to go with him why didn't he just ask me. Ginny rolled her eyes and sarcastically asked if I had actually met her brother. She said he was about as adept as dealing with his emotions, as birds were with deep sea diving, and I was going to have to give him some time to sort them out. I went to bed that night feeling completely confused, I now had to decide what to do, I had Viktor in my life and he was wonderful and cared deeply for me, but now Ginny was telling me that Ron had feelings for me too. I decided that I would have to wait and see how it all played out, I wasn't making any decisions just yet.

The next day Ron seemed to have put our fight behind him and was being perfectly friendly. He told me about a conversation he and Harry had overheard in which Hagrid told Madam Maxine he was a half giant. I told him I'd assumed as much and for awhile the topic was dropped. Then a few weeks later a story came out in the news paper written by the awful Rita Skeeter, she told everyone about Hagrid being a half giant, and we felt horrible for him. Giants are not very well liked in the Wizarding world, and we kept trying to visit him, but he refused to see us. It took us almost another week until we finally got him to answer his door. We finally got him to talk to us and assured him that his giant blood didn't matter to us, that we still wanted to be his friends. He had tried to resign as a teacher but Dumbledore wouldn't let him, I was very grateful to him for it. I was also rather worried about Harry, the second task was coming up quickly. They had been told that the Golden egg they had collected at the first task had a clue but I knew Harry hadn't figured it out yet. I was worried he might not do it in time. A few days later in Charms class Harry told us he'd worked out the clue. It said something the champions treasured would be taken, by the merpeople of the lake and each champion would have an hour to recover it. We spent the better part of the next week pouring through the library with Harry trying to find something to help him breathe underwater, but we found nothing by the night before the task Harry was frantic. Fred and George showed up around midnight and told Ron and I we had to go to McGonagall's office, we were confused but we walked down together. We walked in silence but we kept catching each others eye. I didn't want to read too much into this but I felt like it had been happening more and more since the Yule Ball. When we arrived at McGonagall's office there were two other people in the room, Cho Chang and a small blond haired girl who was accompanied by her mother. McGonagall explained to us that we were the things that the champions would have to pull out of the lake, the people they treasured most in the world. I felt the color rise in my face, as I looked around the room I realized the blond haired girl must be Fleur Delacour's sister, Cho Chang was now Cedric's girlfriend so that made sense, Ron was here for Harry, which meant…. I was Viktor's most treasured person. I looked at Ron's face and he had a hard look in his eyes and he did not look back at me. I sighed inwardly, this was far to complicated. McGonagall asked us to sit down and told us that she was going to put us to sleep. She promised us that no harm would come to us, and we would wake up after we were rescued the next day. She waved her wand over us, and we immediately fell asleep. The next thing I remember was my head breaking the surface of the freezing cold lake, and gasping for breathe. I was in Viktor's arms and he was pulling me towards the shore. I saw Fleur already there she was sobbing and beside herself, apparently she had not been able to get to her little sister. Cedric and Cho were also there huddled together for warmth. We all waited for Harry, Viktor put his arm around my shoulders to keep me warm. I accepted his hug but I was worried about Ron and Harry. It was well over the hour time limit when they finally surfaced, Harry had both Ron and the little blond haired girl. As he pulled them to shore Fleur flew to her sister, she kissed Harry and thanked him for saving her. Then she kissed Ron as well thanking him for helping, he turned beet red and I glared at him. Both Ron and I were completely exasperated with Harry for thinking that if he didn't save the little girl she would have died. He was such a hero, we pointed out that they wouldn't have let her die, and his face fell. We were worried that he wouldn't get any points, but the judges decided to award him second place, I was so thrilled for him.

The next few weeks got even more complicated for me, I was now starting to see what Ginny meant about Ron. While he didn't give me the adoring attention that Viktor did the way he got instantly grumpy whenever he saw us together made me believe that he really was terribly jealous. I remember the first time that Viktor held my hand, we were sitting in the library reading like we often did, and I felt him slide his hand under mine and intertwine our fingers, butterflies erupted in my stomach as I responded and rubbed his hand with my thumb. He smiled at me and then went back to reading his book. From that point on everytime we were in the library we held hands. My heart was completely torn, for I couldn't no longer tell myself that what I had with Viktor was just a friendship, but at the same time I felt like I was being unfair to him, because as much as I loved spending time with him, everytime he held my hand or kissed my forehead a little part of the back of my mind, wondered what it would be like if it were Ron, not him. There was another problem, Viktor was leaving. In just a few short months he would be gone and I might never see him again, I wasn't sure I wanted to be emotionally invested when I knew I would have to say goodbye. One day we went for a walk by the lake, it was early spring and the trees were just starting to blossom. Suddenly he stopped walking he turned to me with a determined expression, he put his hand on my cheek and looked deeply into my eyes, he told me that he had never felt about anyone the way he felt about me. He stood there and waited for me to answer, I didn't know what to say. He was moving closer his face was inches from mine, he tilted my face up so he could bring his lips to mine but at the last moment I pulled away. He looked at me with a wounded expression. I felt tears coming to my eyes, I couldn't do this, it wasn't right, he wasn't the person I wanted to be kissing. I told him that I was sorry, but I couldn't kiss him, I told him that I only wanted to kiss someone if I loved them, and I couldn't love him. He was leaving, and it just wasn't right. That was only a very small part of the reason; I couldn't tell him the rest, but as I looked into his eyes I suspected that he might already know. He quietly said that he understood and I gave him a hug , then we walked back up to the school together. From that point on things changed. I had made my choice, and I knew that I had to stick with it.

Over the next week things were rather interesting Rita Skeeter wrote another horrible article. I had screamed at her for what she said about Hagrid, and Ron and Harry had warned me she would get back at me. Well she did. The article said that I had broken Harry Potter's heart by cheating on him and then leaving him for Viktor. I personally thought it was a rather lame retaliation but it did earn me many glares and whispered angry words throughout the school. The next weekend was a trip to Hogsmeade, and to our alarm Sirius told us that he was meeting us there! We walked to the edge of the town and met him in his dog form. He took us up to a cave on the side of the hill where he had apparently been living. We brought him a bunch of food because apparently he had been living off of rats. We told him everything that had happened and he was very interested about what happened with Barty Crouch at the World Cup, and the fact that he was one of the judges for the Tri-Wizard Cup. He explained that Barty Crouch had been the man who sentenced him to Azkaban, and then also told us that alarmingly Barty Crouch had sent his own son to Azkaban where he died. He warned us to keep our eyes on Barty Crouch, he also reiterated what he had said about Karkaroff being a Death Eater. It seemed like there was danger all around us! We left Sirius that day feeling even more anxious. Things got worse not better when I started receiving hate mail about Rita Skeeter's article, I thought I was all a bit ridiculous until the day someone sent me Undiluted Bubotuber puss which swelled my hands and was extremely painful. It was all so unfair, here I was worried to death about my best friend, having to deal with school work and now everyone hated me for breaking a boys heart, and they didn't even have the right boy! The fact of the matter was that I knew I had broken a boys heart, Viktor still spent time with me but it was much more subdued, we'd gone back to mostly being friends, he still held my hand once and awhile but I could tell that I had wounded him deeply. I decided to focus my attention on figuring out how Rita Skeeter was listening in on people's personal conversations, because even though her article's were mostly bogus she always had small snippets of truth that she should not know. Like the fact that Viktor told me he'd never felt about anyone the way he felt about me. I asked Moody if he'd seen her under and Invisibility Cloak, because we found out he could see through them. I then began to research every possible way someone could magically eavesdrop, Harry asked me how in the world I had time to do extra research on top of our growing school work, but I was determined.

As the summer semester began things seemed to settle down somewhat. One night Harry was called to the Quidditch pitch with the rest of the champions, apparently Barty Crouch was going to show them the third task. Ron and I sat in a corner of the Common Room and worked on our homework. I noticed he kept glancing out the window and then back at me but I didn't say anything. Finally he asked me if I was curious what was going on down there, and I told him I supposed so. He asked me if Viktor and I had talked about the last challenge. I took a deep breathe, I knew that I was going to have to accept the choice I made, and this was as good a place to start as any. I looked at Ron and I told him that we hadn't talked about the task because we hadn't really been spending as much time together lately. He looked up at me questioningly and I held his gaze and didn't look away. There was something that was questioning in his expression, it looked like he was about to ask me something but just then Harry came bursting into the room and came quickly over to where we were. He explained that he had just left Dumbledore. He explained that after Crouch had shown them the maze he and Krum had gone for a walk suddenly Crouch had stumbled out of the woods disoriented and began babbling at them. He apparently said something about his son, and also about Voldemort getting stronger. Harry had left Viktor with him and run to get Dumbledore but when they got back Viktor had gotten stunned and Crouch was gone. I quickly asked if Viktor was alright and Harry said he was fine. We were all disturbed by the incident, especially what he had said about Voldemort, but Ron pointed out that he was out of his mind so we tried to put it behind us, but not before sneaking up to the owlry to send a letter to Sirius. We spent the next few weeks helping Harry prepare for the third task. Then one day at dinner Ron showed up looking worried. He told me Harry had fallen asleep in Divination and woke up screaming and clutching his scar, he ran off saying he needed to go to the hospital wing. I was worried but we didn't see Harry at dinner. A few hours later he showed up in the Common Room and he told us all about his dream. He had dreamed about Voldemort again, and he had gone to Dumbledore. In Dumbledore's Pensive he had seen the moment that Barty Crouch had sentenced his son to Azkaban, the thing that was disturbing was he had found out Snape had also previously been a Death Eater. My head was reeling, I put my head on my knees. Was EVERYONE a Death Eater? Ron was incredulous that Dumbledore would trust him, but I thought I must mean that Snape had done something very brave and dangerous to prove he had left the dark side. I felt like the dark forces were building all around us as the last task grew nearer.

The day of the third task the Weasley's came to the school to cheer on Harry. I was hurt when Mrs. Weasley was cold towards me, but then Harry confronted her and told her that there was nothing between he and I and that it was all made up by the papers, and she immediately went back to being herself. We all walked with Harry down to the Quidditch field and saw the huge maze; we hugged Harry and wished him good luck. We then took our places in the stands. Viktor waved to me from the field, but when he saw me next to Ron I saw a slight frown cross his face, I waved back at him, and Ron glanced at me out of the corner of his eyes. I inwardly rolled my eyes I wanted to just knock their heads together… stupid boys. Harry got to go into the maze first, then Cedric, then Viktor and lastly Fleur. This task ended up being rather boring, we couldn't see what was going on inside the maze so there wasn't much to do, after about twenty minutes I started having a conversation with Ginny who was sitting on my right. A few minutes later we saw red sparks go up in the maze which meant that someone was out of the running. We watched with interest to see who it was. It took them twenty minutes to bring the person out, and it turned out to be Fleur. The Beauxbatons students were all very disappointed because it meant that they had lost. I looked at Ron when they brought Fleur out and was pleased to see that he wasn't ogling her as much as usual. It was another almost half an hour before anything else happened. Then a second flare of red sparks went up, it was much farther away we almost couldn't see it. The judges went into the maze again we sat there in silence. It took them over a half an hour before they brought out Viktor. He looked stunned but Madam Pomfrey was waiting on the field where she revived him and then Karkaroff lead him off the field. Ron leaned over and asked me slightly grumpily why I wasn't going down to make sure my most treasured person was alright. I closed my eyes and took a deep breathe. I knew that this was the moment; I was not beating around the bush anymore. I turned to face Ron and looked him square in the eyes. I said the fact Viktor had pulled me out of the lake meant I was his most treasured possession, but if I had been pulling someone out of the lake, it would have been very different. He stared at me, not knowing what to say but I wasn't finished. I went on and said that if I had been here for Viktor I would have come down to the stands with him, and I would have been waiting for him when he came of the field. But I wasn't here with Viktor was I? And maybe that should tell him something about what choice I had made. He stared at me he opened and closed his mouth a few times as if he were trying to get his words to come out. I saw Ginny smirking on my other side, but she said nothing. Just then there was a commotion on the field. We looked down and saw Harry and Cedric lying on the field. Something was wrong, Harry was shaking from head to toe and he was covered in blood, and Cedric didn't move. Harry gasped that Voldemort had returned, there was a huge amount of commotion on the field, I saw Moody drag Harry off the field. Everyone rushed around Cedric and a moment later they carried him off the field as well, but he still hadn't moved and I had a horrible feeling growing in the pit of my stomach. I looked at Ron and he had a dark look on his face, he said we should go back up to the school, and we joined the crowd headed back up the hill. We ran to the hospital wing, and demanded Madam Pomfrey tell us what had happened. She told us she didn't know where Harry was, moments later Dumbledore walked in with him. He said that Harry was going through a terrible ordeal, and we were not to talk to him that night, but we could stay with him if we wished. We were terrified for him, but he assured us that he was fine, he just needed sleep. Madam Pomfrey gave him a sleeping Draught and he fell sleep immediately. I asked Madam Pomfrey the question I had been fearing to ask since Harry and Cedric had appeared. She confirmed my fears, Cedric Diggory had been murdered. I put my head in my hands and began to sob, I couldn't believe that this was happening. I moment later I felt someone put their hands on both my shoulders and squeeze them in comfort. I didn't have to look to know who it was, I reached my hand up and put my hand on Ron's to let him know that I appreciated his comfort. His brother Charlie gave us a questioning look, but this time Ron didn't take his hands away. We all sat there quietly for hours watching Harry sleep. McGonagall came in and explained what had happened. She said that the man we thought was Moody had actually been Barty Crouch Jr. using Polyjuice Potion, through his confession and also Harry's account they had put together that he had turned the Tri-Wizard Cup into a Portkey which took Harry straight to Wormtail. Wormtail had killed Cedric and then used Harry to resurrect Voldemort, now Voldemort was back and Harry had barely escaped him. I felt terror rising inside me, I knew that Voldemort being back was the worst thing that could have happened, and everything was going to change. Things got worse when Fudge came in to argue with Dumbledore about what had happened, he seemed to think Harry was making everything up. Suddenly Harry commented that Fudge had been reading Rita Skeeter. We all jumped because we hadn't known he had woken. He explained about Rita Skeeter's article which made him out to be crazy. I was outraged that Fudge would believe it, but it seemed that he was refusing to see logic, he simply didn't want Voldemort to be back. By the time he left we were all furious. The adults began talking as soon as he left, they seemed to be organizing, so that they were ready, I wasn't sure what they would do, but I could tell it was important.

The next few weeks were a haze, The morning after the incident Dumbledore spoke to the school and told them to leave Harry alone and not talk to him about what had happened. We spent the next few weeks with Harry, we mostly tried not to talk with him about the incident, we knew that it he didn't want to dwell on it. What had happened at the task between Ron and I had been temporarily put on hold, but I could tell that it was still there if only by the way Ron would often catch my eye when we were all together and hold it for a moment, the same questioning look was there. Cedric's funeral was a few days before the end of the semester. Dumbledore spoke about what a good person Cedric was, and then he told the school how he died. There was a ripple of fear that went through the crowd as he said Lord Voldemort had returned, I felt a tremble of fear go through me as well. I knew that this meant very bad things were coming. On the last day of school Ron and I were waiting for Harry by the front door. He came and joined as and just as we were getting ready to head to the carriages Viktor showed up, he asked me if we could talk. He pulled me around the side of the building and I heard Ron yell at me to hurry up so we didn't miss the train, and I smirked. Viktor turned me to look at him and he smiled, he put his hand on my face again, and I smiled sadly, I knew that I would miss him terribly. Then he said something that I would have never expected. He asked me if I loved Ron. I looked at him in shock and it took a moment for me to process what he had just said, finally I slowly said that I didn't know, but I thought that maybe I did. He smiled at me, and pulled me into his arms. As he hugged me he whispered into my ear that he wanted me to be happy. I pulled away and looked at him with all the care in the world I kissed his cheek and said thank you. We walked back to Harry and Ron, and when we came in sight Ron quickly tried to make it look like he hadn't been watching for us to come back. Viktor said goodbye to Harry and as he was leaving I saw Ron seemed to be having some kind of internal struggle. Finally he asked Viktor for his autograph, which Viktor gave him and I couldn't help but smile. The ride back to Kings Cross was very quiet, Harry asked me a question about Rita Skeeter and I suddenly remembered something. I pulled a small cup out of my bag with a little beetle in it. I had caught her as an illegal Animagus red handed about two weeks earlier, I was going to let her go when we got back to King's Cross but only on the promise should would write no more fictional stories, or I would tell her secret and she would be arrested. When we arrived at King's Cross Harry's uncle was standing there waiting for him, I had never wanted to not let those horrible people take him more than in that moment, I wanted to protect him. Ron had asked Dumbledore if he could take Harry straight home to the Burrow but Dumbledore said he needed to go home with his Aunt and Uncle for awhile. Ron assured Harry that he would be able to come stay with them later in the summer and then Harry left. I was standing on the sidewalk waiting for my parents when the Weasley's showed up. As we were standing there Ron turned to me. He looked at me with concern as he spoke. He said he knew that I would need to spend some time with my parents, but it was honestly not going to be safe for me to stay in Muggle London as a witch for long, now that Voldemort was back Muggle borns were going to be huge targets. I looked at him in fear and asked him what I should do, he told me to spend a few weeks with my parents and then he would help me come up with an excuse and I would come stay with his family, he said I would be safe there. Just then my family pulled up in our car, Ron said goodbye to me but as I began to walk towards the car Ron called my name, as I turned he was walking towards me determinedly. He got to me and he wrapped his arms around me and hugged me tightly, he let me go after a minute and said he'd write me soon. I said goodbye and got in the car with my parents. I watched out the back window as we pulled into traffic and the figure of Ron Weasley standing on the curb grew tiny in the distance.


	6. Chapter 5

_Chapter 5_

That summer was very different for me, my parents asked me almost everyday if something was wrong. I kept telling them no, but the truth was I was terrified. Ron wrote me once a week, every letter started with the words, _how are you doing?_ I knew he was worried. The truth is for all our worrying nothing happened. I knew that the strange occurrences that started weren't freak accidents, but nothing suspicious was happening near us. Ron and I came up with a plan, so after I had spent only three weeks at home with my parents I was getting ready to leave, under the pretense of some kind of Wizarding Summer Camp that I was going to with Ron and Harry, the Weasley's were going to pick me up that Friday. I had my trunk packed and I was waiting for them on the Front step. They pulled up in a black car; I wondered where they had gotten it from. Ron climbed out of the back seat and he walked right up to me and hugged me again. When he let me go he once again asked me how I was doing and I said that I was fine. I assured him that nothing had happened in our neighborhood. Fred and George grabbed my trunk and threw it in the car, and Mr. Weasley shook my Dad's hand and my Dad asked him to take care of me, which Mr. Weasley promised to do. As I got in the car Ron seemed to relax, now that I was back in the Wizarding World I was much safer. I asked them where they had gotten the car, and they said they had borrowed it from a friend. I thought this seemed rather cryptic but I let it go. I realized after a few minutes that we were not going the Burrow, I asked Ron where we were going but he said he couldn't tell me. We pulled into a small suburb in London and the parked the car along the side of the road. As we stepped out I looked around at them suspiciously. I asked Mr. Weasley if they had taken someone's car that they had found along the road. They all gave me a bit of a sheepish look and mumbled that the Muggles never even missed it. I glared at them reproachfully but then asked where we were going. Ron handed me a piece of paper that read, _the Order of the Phoenix is at Number Twelve Grimauld Place, _I read it and then looked at all of them. Ron asked me if I remembered what it said and I told him yes, he took it from me and burned it with his wand then we walked forward. I was surprised to see that a door was growing between houses eleven and thirteen and soon a whole new house was there. They opened the door and we went inside, Mrs. Weasley met us just inside the door and gave me a fierce hug and told me she was really happy that I was safe. I hugged her back and then Ginny bounced up behind her and said she'd show me to our room. Ron followed us up and put my trunk by my bed, he made to leave the room but as he did he told me to come up to his room on the floor above when I was done unpacking. As he headed for the door he stopped and he just looked at each other for a moment before he left, this time I knew what our eyes were saying and it made my cheeks feel warm, Ron smiled and walked out. Ginny looked from me to the place where Ron had been standing and then back, she asked when me when that had happened. I played innocent and asked her what she was talking about but she called me out on the look we had given each other. I told her I didn't know what it meant. She asked if we were dating, and I said no, because we weren't. But I also told her honestly that it looked like things might go that way eventually.

I finished unpacking and headed up to Ron's room, I knocked on the door and he told me to come in. He was lying on one of the two beds in the room so I quickly sat down on the other bed and he sat up to face me, we didn't say anything for a minute we just looked at each other and smiled. Then I asked him where in the world we were, and why we weren't at the Burrow. He began to explain that we were at Grimauld Place because it was the headquarters for the Order of the Phoenix, which was the resistance group against Voldemort, both his parents were in it, so we were going to be living here for the summer. I was excited, I thought it would be thrilling to live in the Headquarters of the Anti-Voldemort movement but Ron quickly told me not to get my hopes up because Mrs. Weasley had been very thorough about making sure that they weren't allowed to hear anything that happened in the house. I asked him when Harry was coming, and Ron gave me an uncomfortable look, he said Dumbledore had said Harry had to stay with his relatives for a whole month. I was outraged, with the state Harry was in how could they leave him there? Ron told me it got worse, he said Dumbledore had forbidden us from telling him anything about what was going on. I sat there in shock, how could Dumbledore do that to Harry? He was cutting him off from the Wizarding World at a time when I knew Harry would be desperate for information. I said this to Ron, and he said he agreed with me, but that we had to trust that Dumbledore knew best, and he had a good reason for what he was doing. Just then Fred and George Apparated onto the bed on either side of me, giving me a huge fright. Fred made some snide comment about us behaving ourselves, and Ron glared at him and told him to do something very rude. Just then Ginny came walking in and plopped down on the bed next to Ron, she warned us that Mrs. Weasley was on her way to make us clean, I asked what that was about but soon after I found out. Apparently the way Mrs. Weasley was keeping her children from eavesdropping was by making them clean the house. We spent most of the next month in that fashion, we were either cleaning the house or hanging out in Ron's room, sometimes we were with Ginny and the twins, sometimes it was just Ron and I. While Ron seemed to no longer be trying to hide the fact that he definitely reciprocated my feelings in some way that seemed to be as far as it was going, he wasn't making any kind of moves to start a relationship between us. That was fine with me for the moment, it was nice to just know that I wasn't alone in all this. If he wasn't ready to progress our relationship yet I understood, Ron and I seemed to be the type of people who did things slowly. I was also spending a lot of time with Ginny, she was much more outgoing and hilarious than I had previously thought. Her personality was much more like that of the twins, where she was mischievous and high spirited. One night while we were getting ready to go to sleep, I asked her why I had never realized how crazy and funny she was before, she sheepishly looked at me and told me it was because the only other times I had ever seen her were around Harry, and whenever she was around him she tended to get quiet and nervous. I smiled and told her honestly that if she wanted Harry to see what I great person she was, that she was going to have to learn to loosen up around him. I suggested that maybe she try dating some other boys, and just being his friend, that would give him a chance to get to know the real her and give her a chance to deicide if Harry was the one, or if maybe there was someone else out there. I told her that's what I had done. She gave me a teasing smile and said she hadn't realized that I had decided on who was the one. I blushed and quickly lay down in my bed and pretended to go to sleep but I could hear her giggling softly.

The last week of July several members of the Order of the Phoenix went to pick up Harry. I was very nervous about him coming, Ron and I had written to him but from his responses I could tell that he was not happy with us for the very small amount of information that we had given him. Ron and I waited for him in Ron's room and when he arrived I knew that my fears had been well founded, he was screaming at us after only a few minutes, we quietly tried to say we were sorry, but I really thought it was best to just let him yell it out. Once he had finally gotten it all out of his system he let us talk with him. He asked us about the Order of the Phoenix, and we told him everything that we knew. We'd met about twenty of the members of the Order, he asked us what was going on with Voldemort and we told him the very little bit that we had picked up with Fred and George's Extendable Ears. All we really knew was that the order was recruiting. He asked us what we had been up to and we told him about cleaning the house, just then Fred and George Apparated into the room and scared me to death. I snapped at them to stop it. They had been doing this constantly the whole time that I had been there I had a feeling they were trying to catch Ron and I doing something private but nothing even remotely close to interesting had happened. They ragged on Harry for all the yelling he was doing and then said that they were going to go eavesdrop on the meeting with Extendable Ears. Just then Ginny came bouncing into the room and said we couldn't use the Extendable Ears because Mrs. Weasley had Imperturbable Charm on the door. I was very proud of her when she brightly said hello to Harry and then plopped down on the bed with Fred and George. She was obviously taking my advice to heart and trying to just be herself around him. We kept talking about different aspects of the Order. Finally the conversation came around t Percy. All the Weasley's tensed visibly. Percy had gotten in a huge fight with his parents earlier that summer and now he was not speaking to them. Ron explained the situation to him how Percy had decided that Harry was crazy and that Voldemort wasn't really back. Harry couldn't see how he believed that, and I slowly tried to explain to him how the Daily Profit was now pretty much trying to make him out to be a disturbed boy who was seeking fame and recognition by making up stories. He was furious of course, but we calmed him down as best as possible telling him that none of his friends believed that, and we certainly didn't. Just then the twins, who had been listening for grown ups on the Extendable Ears, jumped up and Apparated away, just then Mrs. Weasley came in and told us to come down to dinner. She asked who had thrown Dungbombs at the kitchen door. It had been Ginny, when she was checking if the door was Imperturbed, but she unflinchingly lied that it was Crookshanks. Mrs. Weasley believed her and as she left I saw Harry glance at Ginny with admiration. I smirked slightly I knew that Ginny was already doing well. On the way down to dinner we bumped into Kreacher the house elf, he was old and a bit senile. Ron called him a nutter, which started us bickering. I was still very adamant about house elf rights, and he still thought I was completely crazy. We stopped in the hall to see if we could hear anything as the Auror's were leaving. But then Tonks knocked over an umbrella stand and the painting of Mrs. Black in the hallway began screaming. Tonks was my favorite Auror, she was young and spunky but she was terribly clumsy. We went down to the kitchen to have dinner. After dinner the atmosphere in the room changed. Sirius, seemed to think that Harry should be able to hear what was going on with the Order. Mrs. Weasley on the other hand was completely against it. After a huge fight with Sirius she realized that she couldn't forbid Harry from hearing it because he was Harry's godfather. She told us to leave but Fred and George said she couldn't make them leave because they were of age, and Ron pointed out that Harry would tell him and me everything anyway. So in the end only Ginny was kicked out she was yelling and throwing a temper tantrum the whole way. They told us that the Order was recruiting, which we knew. They said that at the moment their biggest priority was getting the word out that Voldemort was back, especially since Fudge was trying to discredit them at every turn. They told us he was trying to make both Dumbledore and Harry look like they were crazy. I asked why they would do that, and Sirius explained that it was easier for Fudge to say they were crazy than to accept that Voldemort was back. We were furious, but we knew there was nothing we could really do. Sirius began to tell us that Voldemort was looking for a weapon that he didn't have before and Mrs. Weasley cut him off. She said that we had heard enough and she shooed us off to bed. We headed up the stairs and Mrs. Weasley told me to be quiet when I went in because Ginny would probably be asleep. Fred muttered that there was no way Ginny would go to sleep before I told her everything, and I smirked because I knew he was right. I said goodnight to them all, and they all said goodnight back as I turned to head to my room Ron and I caught each others eye for a moment and he smiled as he turned to go up the stairs with Harry. As Fred predicted as soon as I walked into the room Ginny attacked me and made me tell her everything which I did, while she fumed about the fact that her mother wouldn't let her stay. As we got in bed I mentioned that I was impressed with the way that she was being at ease with Harry and she just grinned at me.

We spent the next few weeks the same way we had spent the first. Cleaning the house and spending time with Ginny and the twins. Now that Harry was around Ron seemed to go back to the way things had always been with the three of us. I could tell that what had begun brewing that summer was not gone, but I felt like he probably didn't want to make Harry feel awkward, so he had gone back to treating me like he always had. This was fine with me, I wasn't quite sure that I was ready for Ron and I to start anything yet, I had to figure out how we were going to make it work. Another big thing that was in on the horizon was Harry's trial. Harry had used his Patronus in the presence of his cousin over the break. He had said they were attacked by dementors and we of course believed him, but the Ministry didn't seem to, and he was in violation of two very important laws. The first was the Statute of Underage Wizardy, but the second was much more serious. He had broken the Statute for Secrecy, which meant wizards couldn't do magic in front of Muggle unless it was a emergency. This obviously was an emergency but the question was if the Ministry would see it that way. A few days later Ginny and I got up and went down to breakfast, Harry wasn't there because he had already gone to the Ministry for his trial, I was so nervous I could barely eat breakfast. Ron and I went back up to his room and he began to teach me how to play wizard chess. After an hour or two when I kept fidgeting, Ron looked up at me and smiled. He told me that Harry was going to be fine, and I shouldn't let myself get so worried. I looked up at him and smiled back, I said that I knew that. He didn't look away, he held my gaze but he didn't say anything, after a moment I felt my heart start beating faster there was something in his eyes. He looked slightly scared but he didn't look away, something was happening between us that was very new. He leaned toward me slowly and I held my breath…Just then George and Fred Apparated in and killed the moment, and we both jumped as if we had been caught, even though we weren't doing anything. They looked at us with slight surprise, I don't think they were expecting to actually be interrupting something. George quickly said that it was time for lunch and we headed down to the kitchen. We ate lunch but I again barely ate anything. If Harry got expelled from Hogwarts I didn't know what we would do, I would miss him so much. I what if he went to jail? I couldn't bear the thought of him in Azkaban. I looked down at them table and sighed. I felt Ron put his hand on my knee under the table and squeeze it, I looked at him and smiled, he smiled back but then went back to talking with Fred. Just then Harry came through the fireplace, and I looked up at him quickly, my heart was pounding out of my chest. He smiled and told us that he was cleared of all charges, I felt relief sweeping through me and a put my head in my hands. Ginny, Fred, and George all starting dancing in a circle chanting 'he got off' Harry sat down across from Ron and I. Suddenly he winced and closed his eyes. I looked at him in concerned, but he said that it was just his scar, and that it had started hurting frequently since Voldemort came back. I was worried about him, but I thought that seemed to make sense.

A few days later our school letters came. I got an extra letter which I opened curiously. I felt my heart skip a beat as a prefect's badge fell out, I could barely even believe it, I ran upstairs to the boy's room. When I burst in and saw Harry holding a badge too and my suspicions were confirmed, I ran and hugged him telling him I knew he'd get it. He gave me a funny look, it looked restrained almost pained. He smiled but the smile didn't reach his eyes, he informed me that the badge was Ron's, he had been made the prefect, not Harry. I looked at Ron and before I could stop myself I asked Harry if he was sure. A hurt look crossed Ron's face as he snapped it was his name on the letter. I quickly tried to make amends saying that Ron really did deserve it, just then Mrs. Weasley came in. When she found out about Ron she was beside herself with excitement, she told him that he got a present for getting prefect. He asked her for a broom, and then went downstairs with her to show her which one he might like. I looked at Harry, he still wore the plastic smile as he congratulated me. I wasn't sure what to say to him, I knew he was upset about being not being made prefect and I truly had no clue why he wasn't. I quietly asked him if I could borrow Hedwig to write my parents, he said yes but he wouldn't look at me, after a moment I went over and called her down of the wardrobe she flew down and landed on my shoulder. I took her and was about to say something else to Harry but thought better of it. I walked out of the room and down towards my own. I met Ron on the stairs and he still looked grumpy, he walked past me but then I said his name and he turned to look at me, his face was still slightly sulky. I looked into his eyes and he looked back, I wondered if this was how it was going to be now. Everytime Ron and I were alone together there was a tension hanging in the air between us, like all the things that were unsaid between us were making the air thicker. I told him I was sorry for how I had reacted about him getting prefect, I said I was really proud of him, and he deserved it. He smiled at me and said thanks. I stood there for a second and then I moved to hug him, he returned the hug but then jumped back. I asked him what was wrong and he said Hedwig had bit his ear. I giggled, I forgot the bird was still on my shoulder. We headed back to our respective rooms and I began to write the letter to my parents. We had a wonderful dinner that night, we had a celebration for Ron and I on our prefects badges. Most of the Order came and we had a wonderful evening. The next day was particularly hectic because we were on our way to school, which was always chaotic with the Weasley's but with the new security measures it was even worse. By the time we left the house both Mrs. Weasley and the picture of Mrs. Black were screaming at the top of their lungs. Sirius came along with us in his dog form, which worried me because he might have been recognized but the boys didn't seem to think it was that big of a problem. When we got on the train Harry asked us where we wanted to sit and I had to tell him that Ron and I were expected in the prefect's carriage. His face fell and I felt horrible but we left him to find a compartment with Ginny. We went to the prefect's cabin and found there were six other people from our year there, there were two prefects from each house. The girl prefect from Ravenclaw was Padma Patil, the girl Ron had gone to the Yule Ball with. She gave us a slightly raised eyebrow when we came in together, but she didn't say anything. The Head Boy and Girl explained our duties and told us that we were going to have to patrol the corridors on the train to keep people in line. It took about an hour for them to tell us everything and then Ron and I left to go find Harry. We found him in a compartment with Ginny, Neville, and a pale blond haired girl who was reading a magazine upside down. I knew her name was Luna Lovegood, and she had a reputation for being a bit strange. Harry asked us about the prefects and we told them who they were. I grumbled about how Draco Malfoy was the Slytherin prefect. Ron told him about the rest and Luna looked up and stated that Ron had gone to the ball with Padma. Ron looked at her in shock and said yes he had. Luna serenely stated that Padma had not had a good time because Ron hadn't danced with her, and then went back to reading her magazine upside down. We went back to our usual train ride activities. Suddenly Draco Malfoy came into our compartment, he began being his usual horrible and rude self. The only thing that worried me was that some of the things he said hinted that he knew the dog at platform nine and three quarters was Sirius. I looked at Harry in alarm and I could tell he had noticed it as well.

When we arrived at Hogwarts something else disturbing happened. Hagrid was not there to take the first years across the lake, it was Professor Gurbbly-Plank. We asked her where he was but she wouldn't tell us anything. When we got to the carriages, Harry stopped and stared at them. The carriages had never had anything puling them, they seemed to move on their own, but now Harry asked us if we saw the creatures pulling them. Ron and I looked at each other and then at the carriages, they looked the same as usual to us. This wasn't the first time Harry was experiencing we weren't but it usually wasn't a good sign. We let it go, and decided that unless it turned into something negative we wouldn't bother with it, but it was disconcerting. We got to the castle and pulled our cases in. We went to the Great Hall for the beginning of the year feast. It seemed there was a new teacher, she was a tiny little lady in who looked very stuffy and unpleasant. Harry leaned over and told us she worked for Fudge, he had seen her at the Ministry. The Sorting Hat sang its usual song, but we all noticed that this year it was different, the hat sang a song of warning. Telling us we needed to stand together. I asked Nearly Headless Nick if the Hat had ever sung a warning before and he said it did it when it felt the school might be in danger. I was starting to feel a sense of foreboding building inside me. Danger was growing, even if it wasn't obvious I could feel it inside me. After we had eaten Dumbledore began his speech, he introduced our new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher Delores Umbridge. He was about to continue when the little woman interrupted him, I was appalled no one interrupted Dumbledore. She began to speak, most of the students zoned out, I saw Ron sitting next to me and staring at his fork absentmindedly. I on the other hand was paying very close attention, in the middle of all her droning there were some very important and unpleasant things being said. She was telling us that the Ministry was going to be interfering at Hogwarts. I explained this to the boys as we were leaving the Great Hall a few minutes later because they hadn't been listening. They seemed to be just as upset as I was about it. When I got to the dormitory that night I was getting ready for bed when I heard Lavender Brown talking about how she was annoyed at Harry for being such a lying big head. I turned and snapped at her to keep her big mouth shut about Harry. She looked at me in shock but slid into bed with a glare at me. In the morning Harry and Ron met me in the Common Room and Harry looked very glum, I asked him what was wrong and he said that he had a very similar fight with Seamus to the one I had with Lavender. I told them I was worried. I reminded them what Dumbledore had said at Cedric's funeral about Voldemort spreading discord and enmity. Ron looked at me with admiration and asked how I remembered things like that. I blushed and simply said that I listen. Then I went on to tell them that it was starting, we were all fighting amongst ourselves, and it was going to make us weak. We spent the rest of our day rather normally our lessons were harder that year because we were getting ready for O.W.L.'s. Ron and Harry were of course not paying attention in our classes, they always relied on me to make sure they passed. After they blatantly began playing hangman in History of Magic I had enough, on our way out I snapped at them that maybe I should just not give them my notes that year and see how they liked it. Ron said they'd fail and then I'd feel guilty. I snapped at him that he'd deserve it because he didn't even try, and he grinned and elbowed me in the ribs. He said they did try, then he gave me a mischievous look and went on to say they just didn't have the brains, or the memory, of the concentration that I did. I knew he was blatantly stroking my ego, but it worked. We went out into the courtyard and I was interested to see Cho Chang come over and strike up a conversation with Harry. He went red when she said hello and they began to talk awkwardly, just then Ron jumped in and inconsiderately began criticizing the pin of some Quidditch team she had on her bag, she got annoyed with him and walked off. I was completely exasperated with him, he had no subtlety what so ever and I told him so. I told him Cho had obviously wanted to talk to Harry alone, Ron and I were grumpy with each other as we went to Potions class, but I saw Harry seemed rather chipper. His mood got much worse as Snape meanly vanished his Potion when he forgot an ingredient and gave him a zero. At lunch I told him that Snape was very unfair, Ron said he still thought Snape was evil, he said something dumb like toadstools don't change their spots. I was still annoyed at him so I snapped at him that I'm sure there was more there then he happened to know. He was about to retort when Harry turned on both of us. He snapped that he wished we'd cut it out, that our constant bickering was driving him crazy, then he stood up and stomped off. Ron and I looked at each other guiltily. He said that maybe we should try to cut back on how much we bickered. I sighed in frustration and told him that it wasn't as if we were trying to make Harry annoyed but we bickered, that just what we did. Ron grinned at me as I said this and chuckled. He asked me if we were ok and I rolled my eyes. 'Aren't we always?' I told him. He stood up and said that he was going to go find Harry, I had class so I told him I'd see him later, as he stood up and walked out he pulled my pony tail affectionately. I glared at him and smiled as he walked out, I picked up my books and headed for the door, but as I was leaving Ginny caught my eye and smirked.

I met the boys in Defense Against the Dark Arts. They sat down next to me and Professor Umbridge began her lesson she told us to put our wands a way and read the first chapter of our book. I raised my hand immediately, Harry looked at me in surprise. I had already read the entire book so when she challenged me I asked her why the book didn't have anything about learning defensive spells. She informed us we would only be learning the theories in her class. This seemed to set quite a few people off, and many people began asking questions. Things got out of control quickly, Harry asked what good theories would be if we were attacked. I knew this was going to be bad. She asked him who in the world who would want to attack him, and of course he said Voldemort. Umbridge stood there in front of everyone and called him a liar, he jumped up and screamed at her that he wasn't a liar. She told him that he had detention, and then told him to leave her class. She wrote him a note and told him to take it to McGonagall. He got up from next to me and left the room shaking with rage. I felt horrible, I whispered that I couldn't' believe he had done that, and that it was my fault for starting with her. Ron looked over to me with his eyebrows raised, he leaned over and told me I'd better not feel guilty. He said that he thought it was absolutely brilliant that I had stood up to her. I smiled at him appreciatively and he scooted closer to me so we could look like we were reading our books while we talked. That night at dinner things were very unpleasant everyone was whispering about Harry, finally I was so annoyed I couldn't eat, I got up with the boys and stormed back to the dormitory. We talked about Umbridge for a few more minutes, I was so angry. How could she be our teacher in our O.W.L year? We'd never learn everything we needed to. Ron said that maybe she was here to spy on us. I snapped at him that, that was obvious and Harry sighed and told us not to start fighting again. I felt bad, I was always more snippy with Ron when I was stressed, but I also thought that our bickering would always be a part of our relationship, no matter what stage it was at. We did homework for the rest of the night, and then I went to bed early. I had a bad feeling that this was going to be a very long year. The next day we had Transfiguration and Care of Magical Creatures. While I did miss Hagrid a lot, I had to admit I really liked our lessons better with Grubbly-Plank. There had still been no sightings of Hagrid and we were wondering often what might have become of him. By Friday afternoon when Harry had his detention with Umbridge he was completely depressed it had probably been one of his worst weeks at Hogwarts. He left us in the Common Room to head to her office. Ron was in the Common Room with me but then at four thirty he got up and said he had to go. I looked at him curiously but he didn't give me anymore information before he left. I saw Ginny sitting by the fire and I went to join her, then about a half hour later she said she had to leave. She was going to meet her boyfriend Michael Corner of Ravenclaw, I grinned at her and waved to her as she left. It was after dark before Ron came running back into the Common Room grinning from ear to ear. I asked him what was going on, and he told me he had just been made the new Keeper for the Gryffindor Quidditch team. I beamed at him and I jumped up and hugged him. He hugged me back and laughed. Suddenly I became aware of everyone else in the room who was looking at us curiously. I quickly let him go and we sat down in chairs opposite each other and he began to tell me all about it. A few minutes later Angelina, the Quidditch captain, came in with a few cases of butterbeer and began to hand them out. I took one and watched as everyone sat around talking excitedly. I watched Ron a lot, I was very proud of him. He was having an animated conversation with the twins and Angelina but he would catch my eye every few minutes and smile. The next thing I remember I woke up with a start and realized Harry was back, and sitting next to me. He quickly began to tell me that when Umbridge touched him a few moments earlier his scare had hurt. He thought it was a sign that maybe she had something to do with Voldemort, because that's usually what pain in his scare meant. He told me that she had been making him write lines with his own blood. I was completely appalled. While I thought that his scar hurting might have just been a coincidence, I still thought he should talk to Dumbledore about it. He flatly said no, and told me he was going to write Sirius instead. I quickly told him that he couldn't do that, because mail could be intercepted. He looked thoroughly annoyed and said he was going to bed, I was relieved, if he want to bed then I could too without seeming rude. Harry trumped towards his dormitory and I got up off the couch. On the way to the dormitory I walked by the place where Ron was standing when his brothers and Angelina were distracted I discreetly reached down and squeezed his arm. He looked at me and smiled. I gave him a meaningful look and told him congratulations again, then I said goodnight. He held my gaze and softly said goodnight, I smiled and headed for the dormitory.

Ron and Harry were getting dangerously behind on their homework, I kept telling them that they'd regret it but they didn't listen. A few weeks later they were sitting in the Common Room looking so stressed they might break down with piles and piles of homework. I went over and sat down with them, Ron looked miserable and I began to tell him that he should have listened to me when he snapped that he didn't have time for a lecture. Usually I would have taken offense but I knew how busy he was. Just then we got a surprise Percy's owl Hermes showed up with a letter for Ron. It was basically Percy telling Ron that if he felt like not being associated with someone as unstable as Harry that Percy would support him. This just put Ron in a worse mood and he slumped down looking completely miserable. As I watched him I had a sudden urge to run my hand through his shaggy red hair and tell him it was going to be alright. I blushed at my own thought and settled instead for telling him and Harry I would correct their papers and write intros and conclusions for them. Ron sat up and looked at me adoringly, Harry did the same and I chuckled to myself. I corrected their papers and handed them back for them to copy. Ron smiled at me and told me I was the most wonderful person in the world, and promised he'd never be rude to me again. I smiled and told him he'd be being rude to me again by Monday morning, he grinned and squeezed my knee under the table. A moment later Sirius's head appeared in the fire. It was late so the three of us were the only three in the Common Room, but I was still shocked he would take such a risk. He said he wanted to answer Harry's questions, and I was annoyed that Harry had written him even after I told him it was too risky. We gave Sirius the information about what had been happening at school, he didn't really seem to have any new insights but he was talking about coming to visit us. We quickly told him he couldn't, after what Malfoy had said it was too dangerous. He seemed to take offense to this and he left in a huff, I felt very bad for Harry because I didn't think it was fair that Sirius was making him feel guilty for trying to protect him. It was looking like this might be our worst year ever at Hogwarts, Umbridge was made High Inquisitor, which meant she had the power to fire any teacher she wanted and went around making ridiculous interviews. I was more annoyed than ever with her and started something again in Defense Against the Dark Arts, and again Harry finished it, getting himself another weeks worth of detentions. I was beginning to think that I needed to do something about her, we were not being trained properly and it wasn't fair. I finally decided to confront Harry on it, I told him and Ron that I thought we needed to make sure we learned to defend ourselves. That we should have some kind of club where we worked on learning defensive magic. I told them with frustration that this was more important than homework. They both stared at me in awe, now they knew I was serious. I told them I thought Harry should teach us. Ron thought it was a great idea, but Harry of course said that he didn't know enough to teach us. We pointed out all he'd done and he told us it was just luck, when we smirked at him disbelievingly he got very angry and yelled at us. He told we didn't know what it was like, to be a moment from dying, that it wasn't about knowing things it was about instinct, that he wasn't better than Cedric he was just more lucky and us saying things like that was disrespecting Cedric's memory. Ron and I felt guilty instantly, I quietly told him that wasn't what we were trying to do, but that I knew we needed him. Because we needed to know what fighting dark forces was really like, I asked him to think about it and he said he would, and then he went off to bed.

I let the subject drop for a few weeks and then I broached it with him again. He said he wasn't sure what he wanted to do. I asked him if he would be ok with meeting some people in the Hogshead the coming weekend to talk with them about the club. He finally agreed and I was very relieved. When we got there that weekend it ended up being a few more people than I thought, there were over twenty people there by the end. Harry glared at me and I looked at him apologetically. I called everyone to order and began to speak I explained the plan and no one said anything. Then a blond Hufflepuff boy asked why we should believe that Voldemort was even really back. I said because Dumbledore said so, and he said Dumbledore only believed it because Harry said it. I began to realize many of these people had just come to hear Harry's story. He seemed to think the same thing because he flatly said if that's why they were hear they could just leave. I was relieved when no one left. People went on to ask him about all the things he'd done, and people who knew chimed in with details. I noticed Cho Chang talking him up quite a bit and Harry tried hard to contain his look of happiness. In the end we set up a time for everyone to meet each week and then everyone signed their name to the parchment. I was very happy by the end of the day. After everyone left Harry, Ron and I sat in the pub drinking butterbeer and talking. Ron found out that Ginny was dating Michael Corner and threw a fit. Harry distractedly asked if that's why Ginny talked around him now and I told him yes, but I knew his thoughts were still on Cho. I teased him that she just couldn't take her eyes off him through the whole meeting and he grinned from ear to ear. It turned out to be a lot more complicated than we thought to start the club. The day after we had the meeting Umbridge posted a notice as High Inquisitor that no club was allowed to meet without her permission. This gave us the distinct impression she knew exactly what we were up to. As the weeks went on she tightened security even more and I began to think maybe the club wasn't such a good idea, but Ron and Harry kept reminding me that it was my idea. Then one day Harry came up with a brilliant plan, there was apparently a room on the seventh floor which turned unto whatever the person who found it needed. It was a secret room and it sounded perfect. We called everyone together and we met there that evening. Harry walked back and forth in front of the wall and suddenly a door appeared, we went in and it was a perfect room, it had everything that we might need. We had a wonderful lesson where we worked on the disarming spell, I disarmed Ron several times and he even managed to disarm me a few times, a fact that he gloated about all the way back to the Common Room that night. Harry didn't seem like he even mind us bickering that night, he was two happy about the now obvious romance that was brewing between him and Cho Chang.

Things seemed to be getting much better. Having Dumbledore's Army, which is what we decided to call our club, behind Umbridge's back seemed to make things slightly more bearable. Then one day everything fell apart. There was a Quidditch game, and Gryffindor was playing Slytherin. Things were going alright as the game started, Ron was nervous of course, he always was during Quidditch games. Suddenly after he let a goal in we heard the Slytherins start to sing, they had made up an awful song about Ron. Saying he was born in a bin, he always let the Quaffle in, and so forth. I was beyond furious as I watched Ron wilt in humiliation I wanted to go hex the lot of them. In the end Harry caught the Snitch and won the game, but as they were all landing I knew something was wrong. Draco landed and began to say something towards Harry and the Weasley's. Ron was walking off the field alone, and he didn't hear whatever was being said. Suddenly Harry, George, and Fred turned and ran at Malfoy. Angelina grabbed Fred but Harry and George began pummeling every inch of Malfoy they could get their hands on, soon Goyle joined the fight and Madam Hooch had to pull them off each other. I was appalled at their behavior. I made my way back to the Common Room and Harry came in about twenty minutes later looking worse than I had ever seen him. He hollowly told me that he had just been banned from Quidditch for life, by Umbridge. I had no clue what to say to him, a few minutes later Ron came stumbling into the Common Room. He looked like he had been out walking in the rain for hours. He slumped by the fire looked positively morose, he told Harry that he was resigning the team because he stunk, and Harry told him he couldn't because he, Fred, and George had already been kicked off. This made Ron even more depressed, he looked like he might cry as he said he'd never felt worse in his whole life. I wanted very much to go put my arms around him, but I resisted. I walked to the window and quickly told them I had found something that might cheer them up. They both looked at me dully and I told them that Hagrid was back. We ran quickly down to Hagrid's under the cloak and when I saw him I couldn't help but gasp, he was completely covered in bruises. He told us the story about how he and Madam Maxine had gone for Dumbledore as a liaison to the giants. Unfortunately it didn't go very well, they hadn't had much success and they had come back. Just then Delores Umbridge showed up, we quickly hid under the cloak while she talked to Hagrid. When she left I tried to convince him that he had to be extra careful, I could tell that she was not fond of him and I knew she'd be looking for a reason to fire him. Hagrid didn't seem to think it was that big of a deal, but I kept persistently trying to tell him otherwise. A few days later in Care of Magical Creatures the mystery of the creatures Harry had seen on the carriages was revealed. Hagrid took us into the forest and told us about thestrals. I say he told us, because thestrals are invisible to everyone except those who have seen death. I thought it was fascinating as I watched hunks of meat disappear of the ground with no seen animal eating them. Suddenly Professor Umbridge arrived, she began to talk horribly to Hagrid she humiliated him in front of the whole class and then made him out to be a brainless oaf. By the time the lesson was ending I was literally shaking with rage, I wanted to take out my wand and turn her into a toadstool and then stomp on her. Ron grabbed my elbow to hold me back he leaned down and whispered in my ear, he soothingly said that we had to let it go, doing anything would just make things worse for Hagrid. I stormed up to the school, and was glad we would be having a Dumbledore's Army that night so I could work hard on getting her back.

As Christmas grew closer our homework load got heavier and heavier, Ron and Harry were getting positively frantic because they always procrastinated. I was helping them as much as I could, but I also had my own work to do. Ron and I were also supposed to be helping put up the Christmas decorations as prefects, it was an annoying task on top of all our other work, but it was fun to spend some time with Ron. One night we were framing the doors of the classrooms with tinsel and laughing together. We got to the Charms room and Flitwick walked out and handed Ron a clump of mistletoe, he told him to hang it above the door. Ron took it and his face turned slightly red, he met my eye and I felt my face begin to get warm as well. From that day on we were very careful not to walk into Charms class together. A few days before break we went to the last Dumbledore's Army meeting of the semester, everyone had improved greatly and had learned how to do most of the basic spells. As we all made our way out I saw that Cho had hung back and waited for Harry, I pulled Ron towards the door. He looked back at Harry and then at me as we were leaving. He asked me why we weren't waiting for Harry and I rolled my eyes at him. Understanding dawned on his face, he grinned and began to giggle. We walked back to the Common Room together and sat down on the couch to start our homework, and also to wait for Harry. Yet something interesting was happening, somehow knowing what Harry was most likely doing at that moment was creating a tension between Ron and I. I expected it was because both of us were thinking about it, but it was as if there was electricity in the air between us. My skin was tingling and I felt rather nervous for some reason, I tried to focus on my Arthimancy but I kept stealing glances at Ron. Everytime I looked up at him he would be looking at me and we would quickly look away and blush. Finally after the fourth time this happened I rolled my eyes in a teasing way and said what. Ron smiled guiltily and said he didn't know. He went back to his notes but I caught him looking at me again a few seconds later, and we both snorted in laughter. It was as if we had a private joke that only we understood, he casually shifted his weight so he was closer to me and his arm was against mine. I felt butterflies erupt in my stomach, but at that moment Harry came back into the Common Room and he was grinning happily. I asked him if he'd kissed Cho and he said yes. Ron began to laugh and I gave him a withering look he moved down on the floor next to Harry. Ron asked him how it was and I hid a smile. Harry told him that Cho had been crying. Ron asked if it was because he was a bad kisser, I told him of course it wasn't. I explained how Cho was feeling. She was very conflicted because she felt guilty for kissing Harry because Cedric had just died the year before, and also because her mum was being pressured at the Ministry with her job because of Cho's friendship with Harry, and that she wasn't sure how she felt about Harry and that all of it was very hard to sort out. Ron promptly told me that no one could feel all that, they'd explode. I snapped at him that not everyone was as emotionally incompetent as he was. After a few more minutes of talking I headed up to bed. As I left I heard Ron and Harry still talking quietly and I smiled to myself.

When I woke up the next morning I found that Harry and Ron were gone. Dumbledore found me in the Gryffindor Common Room and asked me to come to his office. I knew something must be terribly wrong. He told me Mr. Weasley had been attacked, he was in St. Mungo's and he was going to pull through but he was terribly injured. I quickly asked him when I could go to where the Weasley's were. He smiled and told me I would have to wait until the term ended officially at the end of the day. He also said I could use his fire to talk to my parents. I quickly poked my head into the fire and said the address of my house. My head spun around and suddenly I was looking at my father sitting in the living room with his morning cup of tea. He jumped when he saw my head sitting in the fire. I quickly told my father that I didn't think that I really wanted to go skiing with them, and that with my O.W.L.s coming up it was probably a good idea that I stay at school to study, he and my mother looked very disappointed but they said it was fine. I told them I loved them and pulled my head out of the fire. I thanked Dumbledore and then ran to pack my trunk. At five o'clock exactly I went out onto the grounds and held my wand in the air, moments later a large Purple bus arrived right in front of me. I had decided to take the Knight Bus to Grimauld Place because I knew no one could pick me up. When the Knight Bus pulled up outside Grimauld Place I pulled my trunk out and I ran to the door and wrenched it open, I left my trunk in the hall and went straight for the kitchen where I heard people talking. When I walked through the door I saw the Weasley's all sitting around the table making a popcorn string for the Christmas Tree, they all looked up at me in surprise, but there was only one Weasley that I was looking at. Mrs. Weasley asked me what I was doing there, wasn't I supposed to be skiing with my parents? I told her I heard what happened and I felt like I needed to be with them more, but all the time I didn't take my eyes off Ron. He stood up not taking his eyes from me, he walked across the room and hugged me, as he did he said thank you, softly in my ear. When I pulled away I saw that Mrs. Weasley was wearing a rather satisfied look on her face and I wondered what that was about. I went and sat down by Ron and he teased me telling me to be honest the real reason I was there is because I stink at skiing. While this was partly true I wouldn't give him the satisfaction so I glared at him, and said I was a wonderful skier I just thought being there for my friends was more important. As I said this I looked around and quickly realized someone was missing, I asked where Harry was and everyone's faces grew somber. Ginny and Fred looked up at Mrs. Weasley who had just moved to the other end of the kitchen to start making beef stew. They leaned in to me and quickly explained that they had been listening on the Extendable Ears outside Dad's hospital wing and heard Moody tell the other Order members that they suspected Harry was being possessed by Voldemort, which is why he had the vision of Dad's attack. Ginny went on to say she seriously doubted it was true, but ever since he'd heard it that morning Harry had locked himself in the master bedroom with Buckbeak, and was refusing to talk to anyone. I sighed and put my head in my hands, sometimes I felt so bad for my poor best friend, he went through so much more than a normal fifteen year old should have to. I quickly told Ginny and Ron to meet me in the boy's room in ten minutes, and then stood to leave. Ron asked me what I was going to do, and I told him I was going to drag Harry out so we could make him talk to us, then I turned and headed up the stairs.

I banged on the door until Harry opened it, and told him to come with me because I wanted to talk to him. As we made our way down to his and Ron's room, I explained how and why I had gotten there, and then we went in. Harry sat down on his bed and I sat down on Ron's with Ron and Ginny. I asked Harry how he was doing, and told him that I had been informed about what had happened earlier that day. He snapped at Ron and Ginny for talking behind his back, and I was just about to chastise him for once again being rude to people who wanted to help him when to my surprise Ginny jumped in. She said back to him that the only reason they were talking behind his back was because he wouldn't talk to them and he was hiding away. They wanted to talk to him about it. He told her he thought they wouldn't understand, and she immediately pointed out that was stupid of him, because she was the only person he knew who had most definitely been possessed by Lord Voldemort so she should be the person he WAS talking to. Harry stared at her like he'd never seen her before and said softly that he had forgotten. She bitterly replied he was lucky he could forget it. Harry softened almost immediately and I was very impressed with Ginny. He asked her how he would know, and she asked if he could remember everything he'd been doing, he said yes, and she told him that meant he wasn't being possessed. He said that when he saw his vision he wasn't watching the snake attack Mr. Weasley, he was the snake. This alarmed me, but I hid it and pointed out to him there was no way he could have left Hogwarts magically without knowing it, that's what the protective spells were for. Ron backed me up, assuring Harry that he hadn't left his bed for one moment. Harry looked around at us and the relief was clear on his face, finally he smiled. Harry's mood seemed to be perfectly cheerful from that point on. A few days later was Christmas, I awoke to a pile of presents on the end of my bed. My mum and dad had gotten me a new brown jumper, and red sweater. Mrs. Weasley had given me a beautiful pair of mittens. Next I got to Ron and Harry's presents. Harry bought me a book that I had been wanting for ages. I picked up Ron's present; it was the first time he'd given me something that wasn't a book, or some kind of sweets. I opened it and found that it was perfume in a pretty little blue bottle, it was sickeningly sweet flowery stuff, and I coughed when I smelled it. Ginny saw the perfume and started to giggle. She teasingly pointed out that she thought the perfume was Ron's attempt to get me something special and even a little romantic. I shook my head and giggled with her, even though Ron had no idea what my taste was I was touched that he had tried. After breakfast we went to the hospital to visit Mr. Weasley we saw that he was doing much better, and the doctor said he could come home soon. After while we decided to give Mr. and Mrs. Weasley a little privacy so we went for a walk, we bumped into the last person we expected to see, Gilderoy Lockhart. He took us back to his room, which was a ward for incurable cases, he seemed rather loopy, and had no clue who we were. I saw Ron watching me the whole time we were with him, no doubt trying to gauge my reaction, but he needn't have worried. Gilderoy held no appeal to me anymore. Just as we were about to leave we saw Neville. There was a very awkward moment as we realized that Neville was there visiting someone. When his grandma, who was with him, realized we didn't know who he was visiting, she told us with pride that her son and daughter had been tortured to insanity by Death Eaters because they would not give up information, she then chastised Neville for acting ashamed of them. Neville said he wasn't ashamed, but his grandmother took him and left. I was horrified, I asked if the others had known. Ron and Ginny said no, but Harry said yes, he said he had seen it in the Pensive but Dumbledore had made him promise not to tell. We all walked back to Mr. Weasley's room feeling rather somber. That night Harry went to bed early I had a feeling that he was exhausted from everything that had happened over the past few weeks. I stayed up with Ron, Ginny, and the twins in the living room. The twins were playing a game of Exploding Snap but being so crazy about it that it was almost more entertaining to watch. Suddenly I jerked awake, I couldn't even remember dosing off, but I was slightly embarrassed because my head was resting on Ron's shoulder. I sat up quickly, but he seemed totally unfazed, I wondered how long I'd been like that. Ginny suggested we all turn in. The twins Apparated to their room, because they could, and Ginny, Ron and I trumped up the stairs. When we got to the landing that led to our room Ginny skipped ahead and left Ron and I to say goodnight, just before she walked in she turned and said we should really be more careful where we stood. We both looked up and realized someone had hung mistletoe over the landing. Ginny grinned evilly and darted into the room and shut the door. Ron turned bright red and asked me if I would mind killing his little sister for him, my face was burning as I told him it would be my pleasure. I met his eyes and it felt like my heart skipped a beat. He leaned down and gently kissed my cheek, and said goodnight. I said goodnight back, and he turned and walked up the stairs. As soon as he was out of sight, I ran into the room and tackled Ginny who was waiting excitedly on the other side of the door, we squealed and then stayed up almost until dawn laughing and talking.

Before we knew it, it was time to go back to school. The night before we left Harry gave us some interesting news, he had gone down to the kitchen and Snape had been there. He had given Harry the news that Dumbledore wanted Harry to take Occulmency lessons with Snape. I quickly explained to Harry that it must be because Dumbledore wanted him to stop having the dreams about Voldemort. Harry was not encouraged, he and Snape hated each other and any extra time they had to spend together was not something he looked forward to. We took the Knight bus back to school and on Monday evening Harry had his first lesson with Snape. When he came back I asked him how it went and he dismissively said it was fine, but then he went on to say that being forced to go back through his memories, had mad him realize that the room he kept dreaming about was in the Department of Mysteries. Ron was very excited about this discovery and I was as well but I was also concerned. I wasn't sure Harry should be relying so heavily on visions that Dumbledore clearly thought he should try to prevent. Over the next month we were so busy that time seemed to fly by, we had our DA meetings as often as possible, during which it was painfully obvious that Harry and Cho were now a couple. We also had massive amounts of homework leading up to our O.W.L's. Suddenly it was February and there were posters up saying that there would be a special trip to Hogsmeade for Valentines Day. Everytime I saw the sign I felt butterflies in my stomach, I'd learned my lesson from the Yule Ball about expecting things from Ron, but I couldn't help but hope a little. The Wednesday before Valentines Day I was sitting in the Common Room and Ron came in and sat next to me, he told me he wanted to talk with me about the Hogsmeade trip. I looked up at him in surprise, was he really doing what I thought he was doing? He gave me a half guilty half gloomy look and he said he couldn't go because Angelina scheduled an all day practice. I was instantly disappointed, and also happy. I was disappointed he wasn't going with me, but happy that had cared enough to come talk to me about it. He said that he knew Harry was going with Cho, and he asked if I was ok going by myself. I said it was fine, and he grinned and said he'd make it up to me before hopping up and heading for the boy's dormitory. It turned out to be a rather uneventful Valentine's Day. I went to Hogsmeade, and took advantage of Ron's absence to buy his birthday present. I met up with Harry in the Three Broomsticks, a lot earlier than I had expected. He told me about how his date with Cho had been a disaster and I tried to tell him what he had done wrong as kindly as possible. The next few weeks went on without incident the DA meetings kept on going. Umbridge enforced more and more rules, and we resisted her at every turn. The work load got heavier and heavier, and we were under a ton of stress. At the end of March the unthinkable happened, Umbridge fired Professor Trelawny. We were all in shock, she had been threatening to fire teachers for so long we never thought she'd actually go through with it, Trelawny was beside herself. She was sobbing and saying over and over that Hogwarts was her home. Even I, who did not like her much, felt very bad for her. Dumbledore came to her rescue and told her that even if she wasn't a teacher she had his permission to live in the castle. Umbridge looked positively furious, and I knew we hadn't heard the end of it.

Nothing suspicious happened again until Mid-April. We were all in the Room of Requirement and Dobby suddenly showed up looking terrified. He gasped that 'she' was coming. We didn't need any clarification to know which 'she' was so terrifying. Harry looked around at us and bellowed for us to run. We all took off out the door in different directions. Ron and I pelted down the corridor to the left, I heard Umbridge's Inquisitorial Squad shouting behind us. I had to think fast, because I knew they would be coming around the corner any second. I pulled Ron into a shadow alcove that was to our right and pushed him down on the bench. I plopped down in his lap and put my face close to his. He looked at me wide eyed and asked what in the world I was doing. I quickly told him I was keeping us from getting caught, and told him to put his arms around my waist and play along. He quickly caught on and did what I asked. I knew if the person chasing us was Malfoy, or someone else we knew my plan would fail. I held my breath and prayed it was a Slytherin who didn't know us. A moment later I heard a girl walk up, she began to yell at us but then she stopped and uncomfortably said never mind before she kept running. When she was out of sight and the coast was clear I jumped out of Ron's lap, I apologized to him but he was grinning, he told me not to apologize that, that was a stroke of pure brilliance, and he couldn't believe we didn't get caught. We went back to the Common Room, but Harry wasn't there. I was completely panicked, he must have been caught, and there was no was he was not going to be expelled. After what seemed like hours, Harry came back into the dormitory. He told us quickly that he had been caught, and I was about to panic when he said he hadn't been expelled. I had no clue how that was possible but he went on. He said they had taken him to Dumbledore and Dumbledore had taken the responsibility for everything. Since the club had been called Dumbledore's Army he lied and told Fudge he had asked us to start it to keep Harry out of trouble. Fudge had tried to arrest him for sedition but he had stunned the entire room and then vanished. I was terrified, Dumbledore was gone, that meant not only could Umbridge do what she pleased, but we were no longer truly safe. The next day we got a welcome relief from the depression that was threatening to overwhelm us all. Fred and George Weasley had been muttering that they were going to do something about Umbridge once and for all and that day we found out just what they meant. I was sitting in my Arthimancy class and I heard a loud bang in the hall. Suddenly a bright blue firework in the shape of a butterfly flittered into the room. Professor Vector opened the door and a monstrous racket greeted us. We ran into the hall to see Professor Umbridge being chased down it by a huge Catherine wheel. I laughed until my sides hurt, I couldn't remember the last time I had felt that happy. That night I was at the front of the line to shake Fred and George's hand. I announced to Harry and Ron that we were going to take a night off from our homework. Ron looked at me and sarcastically asked who I was and what I had done with Hermione. I smiled at him and told him that I was feeling rebellious. Harry laughed and Ron caught my eye, he looked extremely impressed and I felt myself blush. The three of us spent the next few hours talking and laughing with everyone in the Common Room and then we all headed up to bed. I had just climbed in when we heard a commotion out the window, all the girls in the room jumped up and looked out the window, two of Fred and George's firecrackers had collided and created hybrids which were filling the sky. We could see the boys dormitory window clearly from ours and I waved to Harry and Ron, who were cheering from there window. After a minute or two most of the boys went back to bed, Ron was still at the window and he caught my eye. He mouthed, 'still feeling rebellious?' I grinned and nodded, and he mouthed 'Common Room' and held up ten fingers. I grinned and ran to put my clothes back on. As I did Parvati and Lavender, who had witnessed the exchanged, giggled at me as I threw on a t-shirt and sweat pants and headed for the door. I met Ron in the Common Room and Harry wasn't with him, I asked where he was and Ron said he was in bed. I asked Ron where we were going and he said it was a surprise. We snuck out the portrait hole and headed down the corridor, it was a much slower process sneaking around without Harry's Invisibility cloak. Ron took me through a secret passage way and it ended up leading to a balcony on the side of one of the towers, it had a beautiful view of the forest. Ron told me that he had found it when he had been taking a walk after Quidditch practice. We had a great view of the fireworks which were still bursting sporadically in the sky, we stood there in silence watching them for awhile. Ron looked at me and smiled, I told him we should probably head back, as rebellious as I was feeling I didn't want us to be in detention. When we got back to the Common Room Ron said goodnight to me, he turned back to me when he got to the stairs and said that he hadn't told anyone else about that balcony, and he was glad he showed me, then he said goodnight again and went up the stairs. I watched him go, and then ran up the stairs and jumped into my bed, I buried my face in my pillow and grinned.

There was only one more month until our O.W.L.s and things were crazier than ever. Harry was deeply depressed, he and Cho seemed to be fighting all the time, and he was becoming more and more introverted, he never seemed to want to talk to us. Suddenly one day he got it into his head that he had to talk to Sirius, his plan was to sneak into Umbridge's office and use her fireplace because it wouldn't be guarded. I was appalled at him, I had never heard a more stupid plan in my whole life. Yet he was determined, so one night Fred and George set a distraction and Harry broke into her office. It ended up going off without a hitch, and Fred and George decided that instead of accepting punishment for the distraction, they flew out of Hogwarts on their brooms, leaving their education behind them. I didn't even want to think about what their mother was going to say. A few days later was the final Quidditch game of the season, I knew Ron was extremely nervous so I was there extra early. Suddenly as the match was beginning Hagrid showed up and asked Harry and I to leave with him. I was reluctant to leave, but Hagrid begged. We headed into the woods and I asked him where we were going. He took us deep into the forest, he explained we had to be careful because the centaurs were very angry. I was uncomfortable with what we were doing, but I could tell Hagrid needed us so I continued. Finally he brought us to clearing where, to my horror, there was a giant sitting. Hagrid explained to us that his name was Grawp, and that he was Hagrid's brother. Hagrid explained that he thought Umbridge was going to fire him any day, and he wanted us come keep Grawp company if he had to leave. I was completely exasperated, not only was it going to be extremely dangerous, but I had no clue how we were going to find our way back to him. We agreed but I had no clue how we were going to manage it. On our way out of the forest we had a run in with the centaurs, who were very angry that we were in the forest, that just confirmed my fear that seeing Grawp was going to be virtually impossible. We made our way back towards the Quidditch Pitch and saw the game was over. I heard the horrible song about Ron and my heart fell, just then Harry and I began to hear that the song was different, they were singing Ron's praises. I saw the crowd carrying a red headed figure my heart leapt with happiness. It was a few more days until we could tell Ron about Grawp, he was of course completely exasperated with Hagrid as well and we all agreed that we probably wouldn't be able to visit Grawp.

Soon our O.W.L.s were upon us, I was utterly panicked. This was my normal routine, even though I always got perfect grades I always worried that I failed everything. History of Magic was our final exam, we were sitting in the Great Hall and it was very stuffy and hot. I was going over every one of my answers for the third time, Ron was sitting next to me lazily doodling on a piece of spare parchment. Suddenly there was a commotion behind me. I turned around and saw Harry had fallen out of his seat and was writhing on the floor, he began yelling. Everyone jumped up in confusion, and the teachers rushed Harry out of the hall. Ron and I quickly turned in our exams and then rushed after him. We looked everywhere for Harry, we were just about to start retracing our steps when he showed up. He dragged us into an empty classroom, he looked positively frantic. He told us he'd seen a vision of Voldemort torturing Sirius, he said if we didn't get there in time Sirius would die. I was trying very hard to stay calm as I talked to them. I asked Harry if maybe it could be a trap, he yelled that even if it was he couldn't take the chance if it meant Sirius could die. I accepted that I was going to have to help him see this through. Just then Ginny and Luna showed up and Harry got even more frustrated, but I told him we could use their help. I persuaded him to use Umbridge's fireplace again, to check and see if Sirius was at Grimauld Place, just to be sure. We hatched a poorly planned and haphazard scheme that I was sure wouldn't work, and then we put it in motion. I was completely surprised when Harry and I actually made it into Umbridge's office. He stuck his head in the fire and called out for Grimauld Place. I thought we were actually going to make it, but then I heard the door, there was no where to hide and even if there had been I didn't have time. Umbridge grabbed me and handed me over to Millicent Bulstrode who grabbed me painfully by the hair and pointed her wand at me. Umbridge pulled Harry out of the fire and soon after the Inquisitorial Squad showed up with everyone else plus Neville, who had somehow gotten himself involved. Umbridge thought Harry had been trying to contact Dumbledore, she was trying to get him to talk but he refused. She threatened to use the Cruciatus Curse on him and I was horrified. I didn't know what to do but I knew I couldn't let her torture him so I screamed that I would tell her everything. She stopped immediately and I was panicked as she came up to me. I told her the first thing that came to my head, I told her we were trying to find Dumbledore to tell him his weapon was ready. Ron and Ginny looked at me like I was crazy, and I didn't even really know what I was doing, I just knew I was buying us time. She told me to take her to the weapon and she grabbed Harry and brought him along too, as we walked he kept giving me questioning looks but we couldn't say anything for fear of being found out. As we passed by a window I saw the forest and had a stroke of brilliance. I took Umbridge out onto the grounds and into the forest, Harry was now looking alarmed. I closed my eyes and hoped against hope this would work. Sure enough hoof beats surrounded us and the centaurs glared down at us. For a moment I was terrified that they might take us along with Umbridge, but then she sent a spell at one of them. Centaurs hate magic, so they all charged her and carried her off, Harry looked at me and told me my plan was brilliant. I smile back at him appreciatively, and we headed back for the castle but there was no need the other four were running down the hill, they looked a little worse for wear but very pleased with themselves. There was then an ensuing argument because Harry didn't want then coming along, but they refused point blank to stay, they said they were part of Dumbledore's Army too, and they were coming. Then we had to figure out how to get there, Luna suggested we fly there, on the thestrals. I immediately knew this was our best option, but I wasn't thrilled about the idea of soaring hundreds of feet above the ground on something I couldn't see. The ride to London turned out to be just as horrible as I had expected, by the time we got to the Ministry of Magic I was so happy to be back on the ground that I could have kissed it, but the feeling of foreboding was also building inside me. Once we were inside we took the lifts down to the Department of Mysteries, we ran down a long hall and Harry told them the door at the end of it was the one in his dream. We went through it and found ourselves in a circular room with many doors. As soon as our door shut the walls began to spin, confusing us so we couldn't exit. Harry told us he would know the right room so we began trying doors, the first room was long and rectangular and held a tank for a brains, I thought it was very macabre. When we left I put a large fiery X on the door so we could know which it was. Next was a large stone room that looked like it might have been a courtroom, and there was archway in the very middle, I was about to leave again when I saw Harry at the archway, he was saying people we whispering on the other side of it. I could see both side's of the archway and no on was there, I also could hear nothing. Luna joined him and said she could hear voices too. I had a very bad feeling about this, they were also the only two people who could see thestrals and I didn't think that was coincidence. I told them we had to go, and reminded Harry of Sirius. He quickly ran back to the room with all the doors, and I put another X on that door. The next door was locked, and no matter what we did to it, it wouldn't unlock. Harry was frustrated because he thought that must be the room, but I pointed out in his vision he could get through the door, so it was unlikely. I put an X on that door and we moved on. As soon as we opened the next door Harry quickly said it was the right place. It was a long dark room filled with shelf after shelf of little glass balls. We made our way to row ninety seven, which is where Harry saw Sirius in his vision. When we got there Sirius was nowhere to be found, this didn't ease my anxiety, it raised it. Just then Ron found a prophesy with Harry's name written on it. I told Harry not to touch it, but he asked what harm it could do. As soon as he picked it up a high cold voice spoke behind us.

We were surrounded by Death Eaters, fear coursed through me as they got closer. We formed a tight circle and pulled out our wands. They wanted the prophesy, because it was about Harry and Voldemort but only one of the two could have retrieved it, and since Voldemort couldn't exactly waltz into the Ministry of Magic, they had laid a trap for Harry. I was scared for our lives, and I moaned in terror and frustration when Harry bean to mock them. I had no clue how we were going to get out of this, I was racking my brain when suddenly Harry pointedly stepped on my foot. I asked him what he wanted under my breath, but just then Lucius Malfoy said something about the prophesy being connected to Harry's scar, and Harry was distracted. I quietly asked him what he wanted again a little more urgently and he was brought back to reality. He whispered to smash the shelves on his go, I quickly passed the message along as discreetly as possible. He indulged their talk of the prophesy for a few more moments and then screamed 'now!' we all aimed our wands at the shelves and sent prophesies flying. In the haze of smoky figures and flying glass we took our chance and tore off towards the exit as fast as our legs would carry us. Somehow in the confusion Ron found my hand and I was half running half being drug towards the door. Then one of the Death Eaters went for Ginny and Ron ran to her, Harry grabbed my robes and kept me running. We saw Ginny, Ron, and Luna print past us but as we broke into the previous room they were no where to be found. I gasped that they must have gone the wrong way, and panic rose inside me, I had no clue where Ron was or if he was even alive. We were about to go look for them when the Death Eaters broke into the room. We got into a duel with them and things were going well we stunned or jinxed almost all of them. There were only two left when one began to call for reinforcements. I quickly put a silencing curse on him and Harry put the other in a Full Body Bind. I turned to congratulate him when suddenly it felt like I had been hit in the chest with a freight train. I felt myself falling and then everything went black. The next thing I remember was waking up in the Hospital wing at Hogwarts. I looked in the bed next to me and saw Ron lying there, he was awake but he was looking up at the ceiling lost in his thoughts. I could tell it was late at night because of how dark it was. I whispered his name and he quickly looked over and his face filled with relief as he said hello. I asked him if everyone had gotten out alright. He told me they were all fine, that the Order had shown up. I could tell that was not the whole story so I pressed him to continue. He sat up in bed and gave me a grave look, he told me that Sirius had been killed. I started at him numbly for a second and then gasped 'no' as I began to sob. Ron jumped out of the bed and came over to sit on my bed, he put his arms around me and let me cry. A few moments later Madam Pomfrey came in. She gave a small snort of disapproval at Ron sitting on my bed, but when she saw the state I was in her tone changed and she told him she would be in her office if I needed anything.

Over the next week I learned most of what had happened after the Death Eater cursed me. Ron had gotten hit with a spell that made him somewhat Confunded, and he had started playing with one of the brains in the tank we saw. The brain had latched on to him and almost killed him before they got it off, he had huge red welts that burned deep into his arms from it's tentacles. Harry was very quiet whenever he was around. In truth I had no clue what to say to him, he had just lost the only family he had ever known, how was one supposed to recover from that? When we got back to King's Cross at the end of the year the entire Order of the Phoenix was there, they all went with Harry to meet his Aunt and Uncle and I was very happy to hear them say that if his relatives didn't treat him well, they would hear about it. Ron and I assured him that he would see us very soon, and then he got in their car and left. Ron pulled my trunk over to my car, as we walked he grinned and asked how soon I thought I could manage to get to the Burrow that summer. I laughed and said I should probably stay with my parents for most of July. He told me to let him know as soon as I could come, and he opened the car door for me. I turned back to him and stood on my tip toes so I could throw my arms around his neck and hug him. He hugged me back and then after a moment we broke apart. He kept hold of my hand as I was getting into the car and gave it a squeeze, then he said goodbye to me and also to my parents. They smirked and said goodbye to him as well. As we pulled away from the station my mum turned from the front seat to look at me and teasingly asked if they were ever going to see Ron for more than a few seconds at the end of every school year. I laughed and told her there was a good possibility.


	7. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

I was only with my parents for a week and a half that summer. As fate would have it they had been asked to attend a dentists retreat in Spain for most of July and part of August. They were going to make it a sort of second honeymoon. They asked if I minded but I quickly told them that it was fine, the Weasley's had asked me to come stay with them anyway. My mother gave me a knowing smile, but they made their plans, and I wrote to Ron and told him how soon I was going to be coming to his house. He wrote back and was very happy. I arrived at the Weasley's on a Saturday and everyone came out to hug me. Ginny, Ron, and I took my things up to Ginny's room and I began to get unpacked, Ron sat on the edge of Ginny's bed talking with me some, but mostly watching and grinning. Finally Ginny told him to get out, that he could see me when I was done unpacking. He glared at her but then got up and walked out of the room, telling me to come upstairs when I was done. As soon as he left Ginny rolled her eyes and smiled at me.

"Honestly I have no clue why you two aren't dating yet… he's so disgustingly smitten with you." She said.

I giggled and told her that we just hadn't gotten around to it yet. She turned to me and gave me a withering look, I smiled and she came over to me, she pulled me down to sit on the bed next to her and then she put a hand on my shoulder as she spoke.

"Hermione… you gave me some really good advice last summer about Harry. Now I'm with Dean and Harry is my friend and I'm really happy, so I'm going to return the favor. Ron is completely daft, I have no clue what you see in him, but the fact of the matter is, if you want him, you're going to have to do something about it. Cuz he won't, he's too stubborn and thick headed." said Ginny with a grin.

I sat there and pondered her words for a moment, and then I told her I'd have to think about that. I had a feeling she was right, but I wasn't one hundred percent sure how to act on it. After I had unpacked I went up to Ron's room, I asked Ginny if she wanted to come along but she just smirked and told me she was pretty sure Ron didn't want her coming along. I blushed slightly and headed up the stairs. When I got to Ron's room I knocked and he said to come in. He was sprawled out on his bed reading a Quidditch magazine, when he saw me he sat up to make room for me. I felt slightly shy so when I walked in I only shut the door half way. I sat down on the bed facing him and he smiled at me, and said hello. He asked me how my time with my parents was and then we began talking about Harry. Ron said he was coming in two days. He told me Dumbledore was bringing him after they went on some sort of mission. I asked him if he knew what it was about and Ron said no, he said that Dumbledore hadn't told them anything. I told him I figured it was probably about the prophesy. I expressed that I was very concerned about Harry, not only because of the prophesy but also because of Sirius's death. We hadn't heard much from him since the end of the term. Ron said he was worried too, but he thought we probably shouldn't get ourselves too worked up until we saw how he was first hand. I agreed with him and then he asked me what I wanted to do for the rest of the day. I told him I had just gotten a new book, and he rolled his eyes and said of course. I ran and got my book and by the time I got back to his room he was already engrossed in his Quidditch magazine again. I took a seat next to him and opened my book, we sat there in silence reading for quite awhile. Then I casually reached up and began to play with his hair as I read, he smiled and shifted his weight so he was closer to me. After a few very enjoyable moments Ginny came bouncing into the room, I quickly pulled my hand away from Ron's hair and we both jumped apart like we had been shocked. She grinned at us and told us it was time for lunch.

The next morning I went down to breakfast in my pajamas, I had woken up and was about to get dressed when Ginny told me that I had been around long enough that my ratty pajama pants and t-shirt were acceptable breakfast attire. As we went down the stairs we heard unfamiliar voices. When we walked into the kitchen we were met with a surprise. Bill, the oldest Weasley brother, was standing there with none other than Fleur Delacour. Ron was sitting at the table staring at her with his eyes slightly unfocused, he looked like he was about to start drooling at any second. I was instantly annoyed at him, and I also wished I had put on something a little nicer before coming down to breakfast. Mrs. Weasley informed us that Bill had just announced that he and Fleur had gotten engaged, and Fleur was going to be staying for a few days to get to know the family. I sat down next to Ron at the table but he didn't even acknowledge my presence, by the time breakfast was over I wasn't speaking to him. I spent most of the rest of the day with Ginny, and we commiserated with each other about how annoying Fleur was. I knew that Ron really couldn't help himself in some respects, Fleur was part veela and Ron was particularly prone to their powers, but at the same time I thought having feelings for me would somehow make him less susceptible. That night before I went to bed there was a knock on the door, Ron poked his head in and asked if he could talk to me. I went out into the hall with him, and asked him what he wanted.

"Look…" he said sheepishly as he stared at his feet, "I just wanted to say I'm sorry about the Fleur thing, I'm not meaning to do it, she just catches me off guard, it's really hard to resist."

"Well try Ron…" I said testily, and then I turned and went back into Ginny's room leaving him looking sulky.

When we woke up the next day and went to breakfast Mrs. Weasley informed us that Harry had arrived early that morning and was asleep in Fred and George's old room. Ron made a point of sitting next to me at breakfast and trying his best to ignore Fleur. I appreciated the effort, but I was still annoyed at him. Around ten o'clock we decided to go up and see if Harry was awake. We found that he was and went in to see him. We sat down and talked with him about what he had done with Dumbledore. He said Dumbledore had asked for his help when bringing in a new teacher and that he was going to be taking private lessons with him. We were just about to ask him what the lessons might be when Ginny trumped into the room grumpily, and from the look on her face I knew who was close behind. Fleur came flying into the room, and of course the boys melted into piles of mush. Harry wasn't quite as bad as Ron, but I was thoroughly annoyed at both of them. Just then Mrs. Weasley brought Harry his breakfast and when she left she told Ginny she had to come help make lunch. Ginny slumped off grumbling that Mrs. Weasley just didn't want to be alone with "phlegm" as she was now calling Fleur. Harry laughed appreciatively as she left. We went back to talking with Harry and after a bit he told us about the prophesy. Apparently the prophesy had been told directly to Dumbledore, so after it got smashed, Dumbledore let Harry use the Pensive to see the prophesy. It had said neither Harry nor Voldemort could live while the other survived, so Harry would have to kill Voldemort. I was horrified, I couldn't believe my friend could have such a dark fate. Yet I knew that no matter what happened we would stand by Harry, and he honestly didn't seem as worried about it as Ron and I did. Then I accidentally lightened the mood. I was playing with a telescope that had been lying in one of the boxes in the room, and it punched me in the eye! The boys valiantly tried to not laugh at the black eye that it gave me, and they suggested we go down to the kitchen to see if Mrs. Weasley could fix it. We were about to head down when Harry mentioned that Dumbledore told him our O. were arriving that day. Suddenly my black eye was the least of my worries. I ran down the stairs with them right behind and stood in the kitchen panicking. Ron kept telling me to calm down but I couldn't, I was so sure that I had failed everything. Mrs. Weasley looked at my eye and told me she couldn't get rid of the bruise, I had to wait for Fred and George to look at it. This didn't improve my mood any. Just then three owls arrived with our grades, and I was positively beside myself, Ron irritatedly told me to get a grip. I opened my letter and was instantly relieved and disappointed. I had gotten all O's except for Defense Against the Dark Arts. Ron came over and grabbed my grades to look at them, he congratulated me and then gave me an exasperated smile as he teased me about being disappointed with an E in Defense Against the Dark Arts.

The rest of the summer was very enjoyable, we spent most of our days playing four person Quidditch in the orchard, I was horrible at Quidditch but they paired me with Harry who was spectacular so usually was pretty even. Ginny had become quite a staple in our days, she spent almost the whole summer with us. I loved having her around it felt like she completed our little group. Ron was, of course, treating me with much less affection now that Harry was around, but at the same time having Ginny seemed to make things less awkward, we didn't feel like Harry was the third wheel anymore. The last week of break we all went to Diagon Alley for our school supplies. Hagrid came with us as our guard, because as wonderful as the summer had been, things were readily becoming more dangerous. There were disappearances and mysterious accidents happening more and more frequently. I was worried about my parents, but Ron kept assuring me that as long as they weren't associating with me they would be no bigger target than any other random Muggles. This calmed my fear but not by much. We had a run in with Draco Malfoy when we went into the shop for new robes, and then Harry saw him again when we were in Fred and Georges new joke shop that they had just opened. Harry quickly told us to get under the cloak and follow him. Draco was sneaking around alone and Harry had a feeling he was up to no good. We followed him and sure enough he went to Knockturn Alley, one of the most unpleasant sections of Diagon Alley. He went into Borgin and Burkes, a shop known for selling Dark artifacts. We used Extendable Ears to hear that he was asking the shop owner to keep something on hold for him because he had the other half of a pair and he needed to fix it, then he left. Harry was desperate to find out what he had bought so I slipped out from under the shop and went in to inquire about prices, I though maybe if I looked around enough the man would tell me something wasn't for sale because it was put on hold. When this didn't work and I could tell he was getting suspicious I made up a lame story about Draco being my friend and trying to buy him a birthday present so I needed to know what he had already bought. The man yelled at me to get out and I ran for it. When I got back to Harry and Ron, Ron made a comment about me being obvious and I snapped at him that if he thought he could so better he should have gone himself. This got us bickering all the way back to the joke shop where we slipped in quietly so we could tell Mrs. Weasley we'd been there all along.

The last few days of break Harry was very lost in his own thoughts. Ron and I also thought that Malfoy's behavior was fishy, but it didn't seem to out of character for him. Suddenly the day we were going back to school Harry got it in his head that Malfoy had replaced his father as a Death Eater. Neither Ron nor I thought this was very likely, but there was no convincing Harry. He seemed to just get more annoyed with us so we dropped the topic. The next day when we got to King's Cross there was a band of Auror's dressed in Muggle suits waiting to escort us through the barrier. The level of formality was a little off putting. Harry asked us if we wanted to find a compartment, and I apologetically reminded him that Ron and I had to go to the prefect's cabin and then patrol the corridors. He looked slightly down heartened but then turned to follow Ginny towards a train car. I smirked, I knew Ginny had a boyfriend, but she and Harry had been getting along famously that summer, I couldn't help but wonder. Ron and I got on the train and made our way to the prefect's cabin. The Head Boy and Girl gave us the assignment of what train car we were to patrol, there was a compartment on that car that was reserved for us and we were supposed to stay there in case there was any trouble and patrol the corridors every half hour for twenty minutes. Ron and I found our compartment and dropped our stuff off. I sat down and began reading a book, Ron watched out the window for awhile, and then rummaged through his bag for his Chess set. He asked me if I wanted to play because it was no fun by yourself. I said alright and we played a few matches before taking our first patrol down the hall. It was strange to be so obviously alone with Ron in public, even though we were on prefect duty for the school, it felt like we were on display for everyone to see. We went back to our compartment and spent the rest of the afternoon doing random things while intermittently going on patrol. It was getting dark by the time we got into the products Ron had purchased from his brothers joke shop. We were playing with a bunch of joke boxes which are sort of like jack-in-the-boxes, but the most hilarious things pop out of them. I was laughing so hard I doubled over, when I finally got myself calmed down I looked back up and Ron who was till grinning. My hair was in my face because I had been laughing so hard, but before I could reach to move it, Ron took his hand and gently tucked it behind my ear. He let his fingers brush along my jaw line as he took his hand away, which made butterflies erupt in my stomach. I said thanks, and he smiled and said no problem. We held each others gaze, but then the cool voice came on and told us to put our robes on because we were nearing Hogwarts. We both smiled and got up to do so, then we left the compartment to supervise everyone getting off the train. We looked around for Harry as we got off the train but he was no where to be found. We jumped in a carriage with Neville and Luna and asked them if they'd seen Harry. Neville said he'd seen him at the party Slughorn had thrown on the train but then he had said he had to do something and ditched them. On the way into the castle I caught up with Ginny and asked her she gave me the same response, she saw him at the party, but then he disappeared. I was beginning to panic as we sat down for the feast. He didn't show up for the Sorting, or Dumbledore's opening speech. Then just as the food was about to appear he quickly sat down next to Ron and I, he was covered in blood and I quickly asked him what happened. He told me we'd talk about it later, so I dropped it. I had to help the first years get to the dorm after dinner so I went with them. Ron was supposed to help me but he stayed to hear Harry's story, I was slightly annoyed with him about it so when I was done showing the first years where to go, I went straight to bed without saying goodnight to either of them. Harry told me what had happened the next day, he had snuck into Draco's compartment to eavesdrop and Draco had caught him, he had frozen him and broken his nose and then left him on the train. Tonks had found him. Harry was very interested that Draco had been telling the compartment he had been given a special mission, but both Ron and I thought that had more to d with him wanting to show off for his new girlfriend Pansy Parkinson than anything really significant. Once again this just seemed to annoy Harry, but he dropped the subject. We had breakfast and then were cleared for all our classes. I rushed off to Ancient Runes and by the time I met the boys for Defense Against the Dark Arts and hour later I was already feeling stressed. The class was being taught by Snape that year, a fact that Harry and Ron absolutely hated, but I had resigned myself to. Snape gave us a lecture on the Dark Arts and then had us practice nonverbal spells. I got it down in ten minutes and was very proud of myself, until Snape pointedly ignored my success, by the time we left the classroom Harry had earned himself a detention for spouting his mouth off at Snape, and both boys were grumbling about him furiously. Just then Harry got a note from Dumbledore telling him their first lesson would be on Saturday. We spent the rest of our break discussing what exciting things Dumbledore might teach him. I left them for Arithmancy. We had lunch and then worked on the essay Snape assigned us. That afternoon we had Potions. When we got there Slughorn, the new Potions master, had made three potions. He asked if we knew what they were and I knew every one. The first was Veritaserum, the second was Polyjuice Potion, and the third was Amortentia. The third one fascinated me, it was the most powerful love potion in the world. Slughorn looked at me with a very impressed face and then asked me it's properties. I told him it was identified by it's pearly sheen, and spiraling smoke circles. I told him it was supposed to smell different for each person. I told him to me it smelled like fresh cut grass, new parchment—and then I stopped short. I felt myself blush, and I looked down at my book. The reason I hadn't finished the thought was because the other two things I smelled in the potion were treacle tarts, and a woodsy smell of pine needles. The first was Ron's favorite dessert, the second was what I smelled whenever I was close to him, I assumed it was the smell of his soap. Slughorn saved me a moment later when he asked me what my name was, I told him and he asked me if I was related to some Granger at the Ministry. I told him I was a Muggle born, and he smiled. He turned to Harry and asked him if I was the girl he was speaking of when he told him one of his best friends was a Muggle born and the smartest girl in his year. Harry said yes, and I looked at him in admiration. I gasped a thank you to him, and from my other side Ron grumpily said that he would have said the same thing if someone had asked because I was the best in the year. I smiled and shushed him so I could hear Slughorn's lecture, but I put my hand on his knee under the table and squeezed it, he looked slightly mollified. Just then Ernie Macmillan pointed to a smaller cauldron I hadn't noticed on Slughorn's desk. He asked what was in that, and Slughorn said it was Felix Felicis. I couldn't contain my gasp, and he looked back at me with an amused but impressed smile. He asked if I knew what it was and I told him it was liquid luck. He happily said that I was right again! He then told us one small bottle of Felix Felicis was the prize for the lesson. I worked as hard as possible, but it was a very complicated potion. The other thing that was annoying me was that the used copy Harry had gotten from the store cupboard had been revised by it's previous owner, and he was getting better results than me. In the end he won the Felix and I was slightly sore at him for it, but he and Ron said that there was nothing wrong with what he did, and I was just mad because I didn't win. Which was partly true.

The next few weeks went by very quickly. We had more homework than I could ever remember having, and our lessons were getting harder and harder. On top of it all, Hagrid was refusing to speak with us because we dropped Care of Magical Creatures. One morning we decided after Quidditch try outs, that we would go talk to Hagrid. I went with the boys down to the field to cheer on Ron. Harry had been made Captain that year so he would be making all the decisions. I was nervous for Ron because I knew Harry would have to be completely unbiased, and I was worried Ron would choke under the pressure. I sat in the stands and watched, it ended up being a bit of a mess. It seemed like half the House tried out, because now that everyone knew Voldemort was back Harry had become an instant celebrity. After a few Hufflepuff's showed up Harry yelled at everyone that only Gryffindor's could come to the Gryffindor tryouts. The Keeper was picked last. The first few people were horrible but then a boy named Cormac McLaggen tried out and he was very good, when he had saved four out of five goals I made a split decision and Confunded him quietly so he missed the fourth one. Now all Ron had to do was save five goals and he would be Keeper. I felt slightly guilty but as Ron walked onto the pitch, I knew it was worth it. As Ron was mounting his broom I heard someone from behind me shouted good luck to him. I turned to see it was Lavender Brown, I glared at her and she met my eyes and gave me annoyed look before turning back to Ron. She had been turning up wherever Ron was for the past few weeks and laughing at everything he said. She had never paid Ron any attention before that year, and I had to admit her sudden interest was making me rather protective. I thought it might be time that I was a bit more forward about things with Ron, or I had a sneaking suspicion that Lavender might be. Ron saved all five shots, and I ran out on the Quidditch pitch as soon as he was done telling him how wonderful he'd been and he grinned from ear to ear at me. The three of us walked towards Hagrid's together, and as Ron said that he had no clue what had gotten into McLaggen on his last shot I felt the color rising in my face. Harry shot me a glance but I looked away quickly. We went and visited Hagrid and he was very angry with us, but we soon found out that what was really bothering him, was that his pet Acromantula, was dying. We tried to be sympathetic, even though we though the large spider was hideous. By the time we left him, he seemed to be feeling better. When we went up to the castle for dinner we were starving, Slughorn stopped Harry and I and invited us to a party that night. Harry couldn't go because of detention, and I really didn't want to go alone, but I couldn't see anyway out of it. Slughorn had acted as if Ron did not exist the whole time he spoke to us, and he had not been invited to the party. This put him in a bad mood for the rest of the evening, and when Harry finally snapped at him that we had not WANTED to be invited, and it wasn't our fault, he trumped off to bed early grumbling the whole way, and I was forced to spend my evening listening to Slughorn prattle on about all his famous friends.

In the middle of October there was a trip to Hogsmeade, and Ron, Harry and I went together. It ended up being a rather unpleasant affair. First of all we ran into Mundungus Fletcher, on of the more seedy members of the Order of the Phoenix and it looked as though he had been stealing Sirius's things and selling them. This of course set Harry off and I was terrified that he would kill him before Mundungus got away. When we finally got Harry calmed down again we suggested we just go back to the school, because it was a miserably cold day. As we were walking up the road we saw Katie Bell and a friend of hers in front of us. They seemed to be having an argument over a package, suddenly Katie rose in the air magically. She began to scream and as we ran to her she fell into Ron and Harry's arms, they put her on the ground where she continued to writhe and scream. Harry told us to wait and he would get help. He came back a few moments later with Hagrid. Hagrid picked up Katie and I tried to comfort her hysteric friend as we walked back up to the castle. We found that the package had a cursed necklace in it that we had seen in Borgin and Burkes over the summer. McGonagall questioned us, and we told her what had happened. Then to my horror, Harry told her he thought it was Draco Malfoy who had done it! I thought his obsession was getting a bit out of hand. He told her about what we had heard at Borgin and Burkes over the summer, but when I tried to point out that whatever he bought was big enough that he couldn't carry it down the street he snapped at me. I was about to snap back but McGonagall cut me off. She told him she couldn't punish anyone without proof, and further more she knew it wasn't Malfoy because he had been in detention with her. I knew this wouldn't quell Harry's rising obsession but there wasn't much I could do. As I suspected as soon as we left Harry started coming up with who could have been helping Malfoy. Ron and I exchanged exasperated looks, but there was just no stopping him. Harry's lessons with Dumbledore continued, he told us all about them and they seemed fascinating, Dumbledore was taking Harry into various people's memories to show him the story of Voldemort's life, and some of the things Harry was seeing sounded fascinating. It was mid-October as he was telling us about his latest lesson in Herbology class. Harry changed the subject to Slughorn's latest party and I told him it had actually been quite fun, that Slughorn had introduced us to Gwenog Jones, the captain of the Hollyhead Harpies. This, of course, put Ron in a bad mood, because Slughorn was still treating him like he didn't exist. As we began our work I mentioned to Harry that Slughorn had planned a Christmas party, and Harry wouldn't be able to get out of it because Slughorn had checked his schedule to make sure he did it on a day Harry was free. Ron snippily asked if it was just party for Slughorn's favorites and when I said yes, he snapped that I should hook up with McLaggen, so we could be crowned King and Queen Slug. I closed my eyes and took a deep breathe. I knew once I said what I was about to say that there was no going back. I felt the color rising in my face as I answered him I told him we were allowed to bring guests and I was going to ask him, but if he thought it was that stupid then I wouldn't even bother. He looked up from what he was doing at me with an expression like someone had just hit him over the head with a Bludger.

"You were going to ask me?" he said quietly.

I told him that yes I was, but if he'd rather I just hooked up with McLaggen… I trailed off angrily but I held his gaze. He was looking at me in a way he never had before, all the defenses were down, all the pretenses were out of the way, this was just me and Ron and exactly how we felt about each other. He softly said that he didn't want me to hook up with McLaggen, we held each others gaze for another moment, and then suddenly a loud crash brought us back to reality. Harry had accidentally broken the bowl we were supposed to be putting pods in. I instantly felt guilty for having forgotten Harry's presence, and we went back to the lesson as if nothing had happened. The next few days Ron and I seemed to almost regress in the way we treated each other. I think it might have been because Harry was now fully aware of how Ron and I felt about each other, and I could tell that he was watching to see how it would affect the dynamic of the three of us. Therefore Ron and I were somehow more formal with each other than usual. I didn't see the boys much in the evenings because they had Quidditch practice. Something Ron was starting to dread, because he kept feeling like he was failing miserably. I kept trying to cheer him up but it never really worked. Therefore I wasn't surprised when he came into the Common Room looking sulky one night after Quidditch practice. What did surprise me is that he grumpily blew me off and stalked up to the dormitory. His mood didn't not improve the next day, it worsened, he seemed to be being intentionally unfriendly towards me, and I had no clue what I had done. By the end of the week I was down right furious with him. On Saturday morning, before the first Quidditch match he was miserable, I went to cheer him up at breakfast, and as I was attempting to talk to him, I saw Harry tip something into Ron's juice and then hand it to him. I knew it was the liquid luck, and I was appalled at Harry, Slughorn had specifically told us it was illegal to use it at sporting events. I told Ron not to drink it and yelled at Harry, but Ron ignored me and snapped at me, and Harry ignored me as well. Just as I had suspected the game went perfectly, Ron saved every goal, and the Slytherin team was even missing two of it's players. After the game I went to the locker room and reprimanded Harry, I told him he shouldn't have done that. Ron thought it was hilarious, but then Harry told us that he didn't do it, that he just pretended to in order to give Ron extra confidence. Ron rounded and me and viciously snapped at me that he couldn't believe I'd say he needed luck to be a good Keeper, and then he stormed off. I was so hurt that I didn't know what to do anymore. Harry said he was going up to the party in the Common Room, I was barely holding back tears as I told him to go without me because I was sick of Ron. He left me but he looked very uncomfortable. I walked slowly back up to the castle on my own, I was feeling so angry and hurt I wasn't sure what to do. Then suddenly I had a burst of resolve, I was going to go find Ron and demand to know what his problem was, we'd fight it out and then we'd either be together or we wouldn't but it would be over either way. I marched up to the Gryffindor Common Room and through the portrait hole. I will never forget what I saw in that moment. Ron was there, he was standing in the middle of the room wrapped around Lavender Brown in the middle of such a fierce snog that it was hard to tell who was who. I felt like someone had stabbed a hot blade through my stomach, I turned and ran out of the room as quickly as I could. I found the nearest empty classroom and ran in, I felt like everything inside me would explode I wanted to scream, yell, throw the desk across the room. How could he do this to me? How could he? I settled for shooting a stream of yellow birds out of my wand with such force that they pelted off the windows and then began flying around the room. I slumped onto the teacher's desk and sat there numbly. A moment later Harry came in, he tried to talk to me but he didn't know what to say. Just then Ron decided to walk through the door with Lavender. I hated him so much in that moment that I wanted to kill him. I settled for walking out of the room and sicking my birds on him to peck him to death. As I walked out I completely ignored Lavender and as soon as I turned the corner, and was out of sight I began to run. I wasn't even sure were I was going I was just running and crying. Suddenly there were arms around me and I stopped. I heard Ginny's voice in my ear and I collapsed into her arms, hugging her and bawling. She gently led me back to the Gryffindor Tower, she took me to her dormitory and sat down on her bed with me. She held me for what felt like hours and just let me cry. I kept saying 'why' over and over again, to which her only response was, "I don't know… he's a horrible lousy git." Ginny let me stay the night with her that night, because I couldn't go back to the dormitory and face Lavender. It was almost two in the morning before I finally cried myself to sleep.

The next few weeks seemed to fly by and drag on at the same time. I had so much work to do that I tended to keep myself occupied, and tried to ignore the aching hole that had formed in my chest. I was never in the Common Room anymore, I haunted the library, sometimes I would even fall asleep there and Madam Pince would have to kick me out. My only solace was that Harry would come and visit me almost every evening, I was very glad to still have him, but he couldn't fill the hole. Not to mention the fact that between the Half Blood Prince's Potions book, and his obsession with Draco Malfoy, he was becoming rather irksome, but I wasn't going to complain, he was the only best friend I had left. I only had a few days left before Slughorn's party, and I decided what would really make me feel best was to invite the boy that would annoy Ron the most. I didn't know why but I decided that it was going to be all or nothing, and Ron had decided it was nothing, and I was going to make him feel it. After my Arithmancy class I walked up to Cormac McLaggen and asked him if he'd like to go to the party with me he brightly said yes, and I told him to meet me at eight. I felt slightly bad for using him, but also rather glad that Ron would hate it. In Charms class things simply got worse, Ron managed to give himself a handle bar mustache which I laughed at vindictively, and he retaliated by doing a malicious imitation of me raising my hand to answer a question. I felt the hole in my heart burn as though someone had ripped it open again, and my eyes filled with tears. As soon as the bell rang I ran out of the room without stopping to pick up my things, I would not give Ron the satisfaction of seeing me cry. I made it to the girls bathroom before I broke down. I was almost on the verge of hyperventilating when I felt someone touch my shoulder; it turned out to be Luna. She patted me encouragingly on the shoulder and asked me if I was going to be ok before she left. I pulled myself together and then headed down to lunch. Harry was with Ron, so I sat a little ways away by myself. A few moments later Lavender and Parvati showed up and I put my plan into action. I walked down and began to talk with Parvati about the party. She asked me who I was going with and I told her McLaggen. She asked if we were dating and I said yes, this was of course I lie, but I thought the more I bugged Ron the better. Sure enough suddenly he was not as interested in eating Lavender's face, and much more interested in our conversation. She commented how I did like Quidditch players, going from Krum to McLaggen. I informed her I only dated _good_ Quidditch players, and then I walked away feeling more satisfied then I had in over three weeks. If I wasn't going to have love, then by god I was going to have war.

The party ended up being the biggest mistake ever. Cormac was not much of a gentleman, and I put up with his prattling on about himself until he somehow managed to get me under the mistletoe and I had to wrestle my way away from him. I ran off into the crowd under the pretense of having to use the bathroom. I found Harry and Luna, who he had brought on a friend date, and talked with them for a bit before I saw Cormac coming and I ran off again. I decided to just leave, I went back to my room and tried to read but I couldn't get through more than two pages without crying. Nothing I seemed to do would fill the hole in my heart. I went home for Christmas the next day, my parents were very happy that I was staying for the whole break. My Mum asked me why I wasn't going to the Weasley's and I told her simply that I hadn't been invited, thankfully she didn't press the matter, but I could tell from the way she looked at me that she might have some idea of what was going on. By the time I got back from Christmas my heartbreak had been replaced by something new, bitterness. While it was not much better, it was something I could cope with I helped me feel more like myself. I saw Ron and Harry as I walked towards the portrait hole, I asked Harry how Christmas was and Ron was the one who immediately tried to answer me, it made me feel very satisfied to completely ignore him. He seemed rather put out and when we walked into the Common Room he almost made as if he was going to come sit with us just like always, but then Lavender attacked him and he went off with her. Harry and I took a booth by the window, and he began to tell me about an incident that had happened right after Slughorn's party. Apparently Harry had overheard Snape offering to help Malfoy with his plan. I pointed out that Snape was probably just trying to make Malfoy trust him, and Harry said that's what Mr. Weasley and Lupin had said as well, but he pointed out that it did prove that Malfoy was up to something, and I couldn't disagree with him on that. I began to find a new routine that was not particularly enjoyable, but it was all together livable, and that was all I needed at that moment. I was completely ignoring the existence of Ron Weasley, as far as I was concerned he was once again that annoying red headed boy. Harry was now my closest friend and a few weeks later he confided some very interesting news to me, he said Dumbledore had given him an assignment, To retrieve a memory from Horace Slughorn about Horcruxes. I looked through every book I could think of, but I couldn't find a single word on them, which I though was curious. A few weeks later was the first Apparation lesson. Once a wizard is seventeen they can use magic, and also learn to Apparate. No one was successful in the first lesson, but the instructor told us that was usual. As I was leaving I heard Ron telling Harry he thought he'd felt some tingling in his feet and I snipped that his trainers were probably just too small and then walked away. I felt a bit of vindictive pleasure as a saw the slightly hurt look on his face.

I woke up on March first feeling strangely empty. It was Ron's seventeenth birthday. We had on many occasions talked together about the things he wanted to do on his seventeenth birthday. Now he would be doing them with Lavender. I quickly pushed away the pain that was creeping back into my chest, and began working on my Arithmancy homework. I didn't really feel like eating. Around ten o'clock Ginny came flying into the dormitory the moment I saw her face I knew something was wrong. She gasped that Ron had been hurt, she didn't know how badly and he was in the hospital wing. I jumped up and we both took off running. When we got to the hospital wing Harry was outside. I asked him what had happened, and he said Ron had been poisoned. Luckily they were in Slughorn's office at the time so Harry had stuffed a bezoar in his throat which cured the poison, but he wasn't sure if he had gotten to him in time. We waited outside the hospital wing all day for them to let us in to see him. Harry and Ginny had a long discussion about how in the world Ron was poisoned. I was silent, there were questions running on a reel in my head over and over again. Why was I here? Why did I care? Why couldn't I let him go? Why wasn't Lavender here? Who did he truly want to be sitting next to him when he woke up? Finally around dusk, Madam Pomfrey told us we could come in, she also told us that he was going to be fine. I felt relief wash through my body, but the familiar hole was also back, just because he was fine didn't mean anything was fixed between us. We went to Ron's bedside and soon his twin brothers joined us, the conversation went back to how in the world Ron got poisoned, but my focus was on the boy sleeping in front of me. My emotions were scalding my insides like boiling water, I didn't want to be so drawn to him, I didn't want to feel so protective of him, I didn't want to love him. At this last thought my brain suddenly froze, I felt everything inside me go numb with shock at my own thought. I loved him… suddenly everything inside me was screaming. This was so unfair!! Here I was trying to convince myself to get past him, and I realize I love him, I was so furious with myself I didn't know what to do. Then suddenly Ron began muttering in his sleep he muttered something that sounded like, 'er-my-nee' and my heart skipped a beat. That was my name, he was calling out for me. I was so bitterly frustrated I couldn't even think, this whole situation was just too unfair. I finally distracted myself, by forcing myself to join the conversation. George had just proposed that someone was trying to bump off the Gryffindor Quidditch team, and I stated that I didn't think that was true but I did see a correlation. Both attacks had been meant to be fatal and weren't, and both had not reached the person they were intended for. I pointed out that this made the attacker even more dangerous because they didn't care how many people they hurt along the way. Just then Mr. and Mrs. Weasley showed up, and Madam Pomfrey informed us that Ron now had too many guests. Harry, Hagrid and I left Ron with his family and Harry and I went back to Gryffindor Tower. I went up to bed that night thinking a lot, I finally resigned myself to the fact that I couldn't cut Ron out of my life, but I was going to force myself love him in the way I loved Harry, as a brother and a friend.

Ron had to stay in the hospital wing for over a week, but I went to visit him often. He seemed genuinely happy to see me, and I hadn't realized just how much I had missed him. I worked very hard to keep things casual and friendly between us, but for the most part it seemed to be going pretty well. About a week later Ginny wandered into the library where I was working, and plopped down with me. She gave me a knowing smile.

"So you've been visiting Ron a lot lately." She said.

"Yes that's because we're trying to be friends again…" I said briskly.

Ginny gave me a very serious look and then leaned towards me.

"Hermione I'm going to ask you a few questions. Do you promise to answer them honestly?" she said.

"Yes of course I do." I replied.

"What's Ron's middle name, and why does he like it so much?" said Ginny.

"Bilius… and he likes it because he's named after your great Uncle Bilius who was the family nutter, and his favorite uncle." I said quietly.

"Why are the Chudely Cannons his favorite Quidditch team?" said Ginny.

"Because they're the underdogs but they never give up, and he feels like he's the same way." I answered again, looking down at my book. I felt my heart aching, and I wondered why Ginny was doing this to me.

"Last one…" said Ginny, "What color are Ron's eyes?"

"Grey-blue" I whispered, and a tear leaked out the corner of my eye, I felt Ginny put a gentle hand on my shoulder.

"I heard Lavender reciting a get well poem she wrote for Ron today. And the third line is, 'you're sparkling green eyes melt my heart', Hermione… she's all wrong for him, and he knows it." She said softly. "Harry told me yesterday that he's been pretending to sleep whenever she shows up, and he wants to break up with her he just doesn't know how."

I felt something inside my heart stirring but I ignored it, there was no way I was going back there again. I quickly changed the subject.

"When were you and Harry talking about this?" I said giving her a quizzical look.

"He's been feeling really annoyed with Lavender and McLaggen and he's been overly stressed and he needed to vent." said Ginny with a smile.

"To you?" I said raising my eyebrows, "is Dean ok with that?"

"Dunno…" said Ginny dismissively, "But Dean and I have been on rocky ground for awhile now, I'm not sure how much longer it's going to last…"

The next few weeks passed without many incidents. There was a Quidditch match in which Harry ended up in the hospital with a cracked skull, and Ginny and Dean ended up in a huge fight because Dean made fun of Harry. The fight seemed to make Harry all too cheerful, which confirmed my suspicions about what might be going on under the surface there. Despite what Ginny had said, Ron did not break up with Lavender, so Ron and I began to slowly ease back into our friendship, it was still somewhat awkward, and slightly painful on my part, but I knew that would lessen with time. A few weeks later I found out that Harry had been using Kreacher and Dobby the house elves to spy on Draco. We found out Draco was disappearing into the room of requirement, and Harry was determined to find out what he was doing. I pointed out he wasn't going to be able to get in if he didn't know where Draco was, because that's the way the room worked, but he didn't listen. I was getting very aggravated with him, he was spending all his time obsessing over Malfoy and he hadn't done anything towards getting the memory from Slughorn. He had tried once and then given up. By the time Spring was ending Ron's situation with Lavender was getting ridiculous, he would hide behind me every time a girl would walk by until I could assure him it wasn't her. Then one day we got a letter from Hagrid asking us to come down to his cabin for the funeral of his giant spider that night. I was completely exasperated, how could Hagrid want us to come down for that?? To risk going onto the grounds… I simply told the boys there was no way we could do it. I asked Harry if he was going to try to approach Slughorn again, and he said yes, he added maybe he'd be lucky that time. Suddenly Ron had a stroke of pure genius; he said Harry should use his luck potion! Somehow I knew he was right, and that it would work. Harry told us if he wasn't successful in talking to Slughorn that afternoon he would use the Potion. Ron and I went to the village to take our Apparation test, I was very nervous, but in the end I passed. I was so excited that I threw my arms around Ron and hugged him without thinking. He hugged me back enthusiastically but I pulled away very quickly. Then he took his test, I thought he had passed but then the examiner said he had left half an eyebrow behind. I felt very bad for him as he came back looking thoroughly disappointed, I patted his arm as we walked back towards the school and told him it was ok. As I made to move my hand back he gently brushed it with his and I quickly pulled it away and put it in my pocket. I saw a look of frustration cross his face, but I was not giving in. He was with Lavender, and even if he wasn't I didn't know if my heart would be able to give him a second chance. That night Harry had not been successful in getting Slughorn's memory so the three of us snuck up to the boy's dormitory and Harry took the potion. A look of complete peace came over his face and he stated he was going to Hagrid's. Ron and I looked at him in alarm and told him he had to go see Slughorn, but he told us that somehow he knew he needed to go see Hagrid. We looked at him in like he was crazy, but he just smiled and said to trust him, that the Felix knew what it was doing. He threw on his Invisibility Cloak, and ran down the stairs and Ron and I followed. The second we got to the foot of the stairs Lavender saw us and shrieked at Ron asking him what he was doing up there with me. I instantly realized that with Harry under the Cloak it looked like Ron and I had been in his room alone together.

"Don't leave me!!" Ron desperately whispered, as I made a move for the portrait hole.

"This is your battle Ron, I'll be in library when it's over." I said quickly and I made a dash for the door as Lavender advanced on him. On my way out I saw Ginny and Dean having a blazing row of their own just inside the portrait hole and I smirked, maybe Harry's liquid luck worked even better than I'd dreamed it could. I went to the library and began to read Hogwarts a History for the millionth time, but I was barely even seeing the words. About forty five minutes later Ron came in and slumped down next to me. He looked rather dazed.

"She just kept yelling and yelling…" he said.

"Did she break up with you?" I asked and he nodded. I swallowed hard before I continued.

"Are you upset?" I said, he looked into my eyes, and slowly shook his head.

I nodded in understanding, and then I got up and told him I was going to bed. He said my name, almost tentatively like it was a question. I turned back to him and simply said, 'not yet Ron'. Then I turned and left. The next day in Charms class Harry explained all about Horcruxes, apparently they were pieces of a persons soul that they split apart by murdering someone else, and then sealed in objects. It helped make the person immortal but at a terrible price. Apparently Voldemort had made six of them, and Dumbledore wanted Harry's help finding and destroying them. Ron and I were speechless. I told Harry that Ginny and Dean had broken up, and I could see the familiar hopefulness in his eyes. I smirked slightly. Over the next few weeks it became painfully obvious to me what was brewing between Harry and Ginny. They would walk into the Common Room together after every Quidditch Practice, and whenever we were doing homework it would take Harry twice as long because he'd spend half his time staring at her. Then one night something terrible happened, Harry came into the Common Room looking positively morose. Ron had informed Ginny and I that he had run up to him in the hall covered in blood and asked to borrow his Potions book and then run off again. Harry informed us that what had happened was that he had used a spell he'd learned from the Prince's Potion book on Malfoy and it had slashed him open and almost killed him. I was completely horrified, but he went on to say that Malfoy was fine, though Harry had been banned from playing in the last Quidditch game of the season. I tried to tell him it served him right for using that book, but Ginny snapped at me, I was offended so I snapped back and we stopped talking. The match actually turned out just fine, Gryffindor won the Quidditch Cup even without Harry and then there was a huge party. Harry showed up a few minutes late because of his detention, and when he got there Ginny walked right up to him and planted a huge kiss on him. I was thrilled and actual let out a little squeal of happiness. Ron seemed in shock, but he gave Harry a nod of approval and Harry grinned as he and Ginny walked back out of the portrait hole hand in hand. Ron and I took up seats on the couch to enjoy the party, I began reading a book after awhile because I wasn't much of the party type. Ron began to casually rub his thumb along the edge of my hand and I pulled it away from him. He looked at me with a sad almost pleading look but I simply shook my head and went back to reading. A moment later he said he was going to bed, I looked up at him and he did not look angry at me, he looked sad and frustrated. He said goodnight, and I could still see the pleading in his eyes. I felt myself soften as I said goodnight back to him. The rest of the term seemed to fly by, we didn't see much of Harry anymore because what little free time he did have was taken by Ginny. Towards the middle of June we were all sitting in the Common Room when Harry got a letter saying he had a meeting with Dumbledore. He set off quickly to meet him. He came back shortly looking very worried. I asked him what was wrong but he rushed past me into to the boy's dormitories. When he came back down he explained everything very quickly. He said he was going with Dumbledore on a mission to get one of the Horcruxes. He also told us that he knew Draco was going to make his move that night, because Professor Trelawney had heard him celebrating in the Room of Requirement and with Dumbledore gone, it would be the perfect moment. He told us we had to try and stop him. Then he gave us the last of his liquid luck, he told us to split it between us and Ginny and then he asked us to say goodbye to her for him, and then he was gone. I sat there in shock and fear, I didn't know if Harry would even come back from such a mission, and he left us with a very dangerous task. We had no clue what might be coming. I looked at Ron with wide eyes, and told him we had to find Ginny. He was looking at me with a hard expression and to my surprise, he said no. I gave him a questioning look, but he grabbed me by the arm and drug me across the Common Room and up the stairs to his dormitory where he shut the door. I asked him what in the world he was doing, and he looked at me very determinedly and told me that we needed to talk.

"Ron… I can't do this right now…" I told him, the emotions were already building inside me.

"Hermione… it has to be now… what if something happens tonight? I have to know…" he said.

"Know what…" I said slowly, I was afraid to hear the answer.

"Hermione…" he began, "Words can never explain how stupid I have been this year. If I live to be one hundred years old I doubt if I'll do anything in else in my life I regret as much as I regret this year. I was an idiot because I was afraid. I was afraid of how you make me feel…" he came close to me as he said this.

"Ron please don't…" I whispered, my heart was aching and I knew my resolve wouldn't hold much longer.

"Hermione… you are the only girl who had ever understood me, you're the only person who has ever made me feel like I was something special just as me. When I wasn't speaking to you I felt like part of me was missing…" he said softly.

Without warning Ron fell on his knees, I looked at him in shock I had not been expecting him to literally beg.

"You are the only girl for me. I know that now. I want you more than I've ever wanted anything in my whole life. If you can't take me back I'll understand that, it's what I deserve. But I want you to know, that if it's not you, it's not going to be anyone. I swear I'll be a single bloke my whole life, and I'll accept that fate. Because there's no one for me but you."

I held my breath, as I looked into those beautiful grey-blue eyes I could see that he meant every word, and I felt my heart melting. Waves of emotion that I'd been holding at bay washed through me and tears filled my eyes.

"Get up here so I can hug you, you twit!" I said, and he stood up immediately and gathered me into his arms.

I wrapped my arms around his neck and hugged him fiercely I entwined my fingers in his hair and buried my face in his shoulder. I had missed him, the smell and feel of him. He nestled his head on my neck and whispered 'I'm sorry. I'm so sorry.' into my ear over and over again. He ran his hand through my hair gently, and I cried on his shoulder. Eventually I stopped crying and pulled back to look at him. I kept my arms around his neck and he kept his firmly around my waist. I felt like I was finally where I belonged.

"So is that a yes…you'll have me?" he said with a slight smile.

"Yes…" I whispered, and he gently wiped a tear from my cheek. Just then Ginny burst into the room.

"Oh… sorry I thought you were up here with Harry." She said with a smirk.

She made to leave but we stopped her quickly. We explained to her where Harry had gone and I made sure to tell her that he had asked us to say goodbye to her. She looked scared, but also determined. She pulled out her Dumbledore's Army coin which she had kept and tapped her wand on it. This would call all other Dumbledore's Army members to us. We went to wait in the main hall because we thought that would be the easiest place for everyone to find us. As we walked down the stairs I slipped my hand into Ron's and he entwined his fingers with mine. Ginny gave us a slightly quizzical look, but she kept walking. We waited for a half hour and the only people who showed up were Neville and Luna. I really wanted more back up, but Ron pointed out that we couldn't wait too long. I finally agreed and we set our plan into motion. Ron, Ginny, and Neville would be going to guard the Room of Requirement, and Luna and I would be going to guard Snape's office, just for good measure. I desperately did not want to be separated from Ron, but he pointed out that Harry would want one of us at each place, and I knew he was right. He gave me a fierce hug before going up the stairs with Ginny, and Neville. Luna and I made our way down to the dungeons and we waited. We sat outside Snape's office for almost two hours before anything happened. Then suddenly we began to hear loud bangs and scuffles from the floors above us, I looked at Luna in fear, and I moment later Professor Flitwick came flying down the stairs, and ran into Snape's office we heard him tell Snape that he needed to come right away, and then suddenly there was a crash. Snape came running out the door and told us that Flitwick had collapsed, and we should help him to the hospital wing. We hurried to help him, and then we ran back for the stairs. By the time we got to the Entrance Hall the Death Eaters were on the run, they were headed for Hagrid. I screamed in horror as they attacked Hagrid who had come out of his house, and then they set his house on fire. I was about to run after them, when arms enveloped me. I heard Ron's voice in my ear, he told me to calm down, that Hagrid's giant blood would protect him. I looked again and saw he was right, the spells were bouncing off of him. A few moments later someone was helping Hagrid put out his house, and the Death Eaters were gone. I turned back to Ron and put my hands on each side of his face, he was all right. Yet there was something in his eyes that told me something was wrong. I asked him and he said we needed to go to the hospital wing, his brother Bill had been attacked by the werewolf Greyback. We walked slowly up the stairs, and sat down in the hospital wing. Bill didn't look like himself anymore his face was slashed to bits. No one said anything for a few moments, and then Harry and Ginny came in hand in hand. I ran to Harry and threw my arms around him, I was so happy that he was safe. Then he told us something that changed my life forever, he said Dumbledore was dead, and that Snape had killed him. I felt everything inside me go numb, this was the end of everything that I held as normal and I knew it. I gasped that it was my fault, I had let Snape just run past me… but Lupin quickly told me that it was not my fault. He pointed out that if I hadn't let him go, then I would probably be dead myself. The conversation carried on but I barely heard it… the fear that had been growing in me was now in the front of my mind. It was as if Dumbledore had been our security blanket, without him, the evil was real, and it was inescapable. McGonagall took Harry from the room to question him, because he was the only witness of Dumbledore's death. We sat there for a few more minutes and then Mrs. Weasley told us we should go to bed. We all agreed and we headed towards the door of the hospital wing, as we were walking out Ron once again took my hand, and I saw Mrs. Weasley do a double take. Maybe I was just imagining it, but I thought I saw a hint of a smile play on her lips. When we got back to Gryffindor Common Room it was deserted, Ginny bid us goodnight, and headed up stairs. Ron and I stood there together for what seemed like hours, not saying a word. He took my other hand in his as well and put his forehead against mine. I closed my eyes and just relished his presence, with all the fear and horror and sadness that was coursing through my body, it was mind boggling to me how much I needed him. He slipped his arms around me and pulled me close to him. I laid my head on his chest and he just held me. Finally he whispered that I should try to get some sleep. I told him I didn't think I could, but he just squeezed me tighter and then told me to try. I looked up at him and he leaned down, for a second my heart skipped a beat, but then he softly kissed my forehead. The feeling of his lips on my skin was far too perfect. I reluctantly pulled away from him, and went up to bed. I fell asleep that night with a jumbled mix of every emotion possible flowing through me.

The days flew by, all the classes had been cancelled, as we as exams. Harry, Ginny, Ron, and I spent all our free time together. It was a horribly bittersweet feeling to know this should have been a happy time, the four of us finally two couples, but it wasn't, we felt like we were barely hanging on. The morning after Dumbledore's death Harry had shown me what he and Dumbledore had retrieved. It ended up being a fake Horcrux with a note in it from someone named RAB, who had taken the real one, but try as I might, I couldn't find anything on someone named RAB in the library that fit the description. The last day of school was Dumbledore's funeral. I remember it like it was yesterday, as they lay his body on the stone slab and it was magically enclosed in marble, it finally sunk in all the way that he was gone. The tears came in a steady flow and I felt sobs welling up inside me. Ron wrapped his arms around me and pulled me onto his shoulder where I cried. I felt something wet on the top of my head and realized that Ron was crying too, and I held him tighter. I heard Ginny and Harry talking next to us, but I didn't register what they were saying. After a few minutes I got composure and looked up at Ron, I brushed the tears off his face and looked at him meaningfully. He told me we'd better go find Harry. I looked around and realized both Harry and Ginny were gone. Ginny had moved over with Fred and George who seemed to be comforting her, and Harry was walking by himself down by the lake. Ron and I quickly walked down the hill towards him. He looked so empty, almost as though I didn't recognize him. He informed us that he wasn't coming back to Hogwarts the next year, he had to go find the rest of the Horcruxes, because that's what Dumbledore had asked him to do, and then he had to kill Voldemort, and end it all. Ron immediately told him that we were coming with him. Harry said no but I jumped in. I told him that we had our chances to walk away and we hadn't which meant no matter what happened we were sticking with him. I couldn't believe what I had just committed to, I was leaving school, to go on a dangerous mission that I might not come back from alive, but at the same time I knew in my heart that I had no other choice. I would always be wherever Ron and Harry were because that was my fate.


	8. Chapter 7

_I've decided to post what happens in the seventh book as several shorter chapters, because if I don't it's going to end up being 30,000 plus words in one chapter. So here is part one of Hermione's account of the Deathly Hallows. Hope you enjoy it. _

Chapter 7

I was sitting on the front porch of my house waiting for my parents to arrive home from work. I had only been home on summer holiday for two days but I knew even two days was terribly dangerous at this point in time. Ron and I had had a discussion on the train two days earlier. Harry had wandered off somewhere deep in thought and Ron had turned to me.

"Hermione…I know this is hard, we're taking in so much at once." He grasped my hand encouragingly, "but we need to think about how we're going to protect your parents while we're gone. Because if we disappear they're going to start looking for us and your parents are the first place they'll look for you."

I bit my lip and told him I had been thinking about that too, I'd been thinking about it for the past three hours, ever since we said we'd go with Harry. I took a deep breathe and told him what I had planned. I was going to go home and buy my parents two tickets to Australia behind their backs, then I was going to pack up their house while they were at work, and then wipe their memories so they had no clue I existed and thought they were two completely different people, who were about to move to Australia. Ron sat there and looked at me dumbfounded, he asked softly when I was going to do it, and I said as soon as I got home. I felt tears welling up in my eyes as I spoke, I knew sending my parents away when I had no clue if I'd ever seen them again was going to be one of the hardest things I'd ever done. Ron pulled me into his arms and told me it was going to be ok, he told me to come straight to the Burrow once they had left, and I promised him that I would.

So here I was sitting on my front step waiting to put my plan into action. I looked at my watch, it was four o'clock, they should be home any moment. I had packed everything into large crates which I had shipped to an address in Sydney, earlier that morning, and I had their suitcases waiting for them on the front doorstep. Just then my father's car pulled up the driveway. I took a deep breath and stood up. My father and mother got out of the car looking very curious.

"Hermione sweetheart, why on earth have you packed our luggage? We're not going somewhere are we?" said my father.

"Yes we are… I've found out that we need to go away for a little while for our safety." I said.

"Oh goodness… is everything all right?" said my mother with concern.

"It will be…" I said, "come here and I'll show you what's going on" I said as I took out my wand. My parents were used to me showing them things magically to help them understand so they didn't even hesitate.

I performed the spell and both of their eyes went strangely glassy for a second, and then my mother looked back at me with a completely blank expression.

"I'm terribly sorry dear but I've completely forgotten your name." she said as she picked her suitcase up.

"My name is Hermione Granger, Mrs. Wilkins." I said trying to keep my voice steady, "I'm your real estate agent, I'll be selling your house for you."

"Oh yes of course…" said my mother, "How silly of me Miss Granger. Hermione is it? Such a lovely name, from Shakespeare isn't it?"

"Yes… from A Winter's Tale…" I said softly, "she was the queen."

"Ah yes… you know I always thought if I ever had a daughter I might like to name her Hermione…" said my mother with a far away look in her eye, but then she looked back at me with the same blank expression, "but I guess such things just weren't in the cards for me."

My father had taken their bags to the car, and was now waiting for my mother.

"Come on Monica, let's not take up anymore of the nice young lady's time. Australia waits for no man!" he said brightly, and then he handed me his keys to the house and they got in the car, and drove away.

I watched as the car pulled to the end of the street and then turned out of sight. Monica and Wendell Wilkins had no clue that they had just said goodbye to their only child possibly for the last time. I had not hugged them; I hadn't even told them I loved them. A burning began to rise in my throat and I felt the tears on the edge of my eyes. I walked quickly back into my house, it was completely empty, and that just made the gravity of what I had done sink in even farther. The tears began to stream down my face, I knew I was supposed to go to the Burrow now, my trunk was packed and ready, but I couldn't go like this, Mrs. Weasley would want to know what was wrong, and I couldn't tell her what I'd just done. I walked into the living room and sank onto the couch, the house felt so empty without my parents, without them it wasn't my home, it was just a house. I tucked my knees up to my chest and I sobbed. I felt the sobs shaking my body and I couldn't stop them. Suddenly there were warm arms around me, I couldn't see through my tears but I recognized the soft woodsy smell. I gasped Ron's name and he sat down on the couch and scooped me into his lap and cradled me against him. He let me cry for a very long time, he simply stroked my hair and whispered, 'it's all right, I'm here…" into my ear over and over again. By the time I had finally cried out what felt like all my tears I looked up and it was nearly dark. I looked into Ron's eyes and he was looking back at me with a worried expression.

"How did you get here?" I croaked, crying for hours seemed to have stiffened my vocal chords.

"I Apparated, we came here to pick you up two summers ago remember?" said Ron, "I knew this was gonna be really hard, I didn't want you to have to do it alone."

"Thank you…" I said softly, he tucked my hair behind my ear and then kept his hand on my cheek as he spoke.

"Are you alright?" he said carefully.

"Yes… it was just really hard, to let them go." I said, feeling the burning in my throat again.

Ron nodded in an understanding way and hugged me close to him again. I accepted his hug and then pulled back and took a deep breathe. Suddenly I was uncomfortably aware that I had been sitting in his lap for the past few hours. I got up and stretched, my muscles felt tired from all the energy I had been expending. Ron asked if I thought I'd be up for going back to the Burrow, and I said yes, but I wanted to run to the kitchen and wash my face first, I was sure I looked awful. Ron smiled and said he thought I looked rather cute, I rolled my eyes at him and went to the kitchen and he went upstairs to grab my trunk. He came back down and came over to where I was standing. He put an arm around me and then put his forehead against mine. We stood there for a moment looking deeply into each other's eyes. My heart was beating very fast I knew exactly what would happen if either of us made a move but after a second longer Ron pulled away and took out his wand. I couldn't tell if I was disappointed or relieved. To be feeling all of these things with Ron was exciting but also a little scary, because it was Ron, he knew me so well. We turned on the spot and a second later we were standing in front of the Burrow. Mrs. Weasley opened the back door looking worried. Ron levitated my trunk beside us and then took my hand as we entered the house.

"Where have you two been I expected you hours ago!" said Mrs. Weasley slightly sharply.

"Sorry Mum, Hermione's folks asked me to stay for dinner. They wanted to get to know me a bit better seeing as… you know…" Ron lied and he made a motion towards out entwined hands.

Mrs. Weasley's expression instantly changed and she smiled at us both. She told me I could go up and get settled in Ginny's room. Ron took my trunk up and put it by my bed then he quietly asked me if I was going to be ok. I told him I would be fine and he kissed me on the head before leaving the room.

"So you guys are like official now right?" said Ginny from her bed.

I looked at her and she had a very funny expression on her face. She looked hurt and in pain, but also hard and determined. I wasn't sure what in the world was wrong but I could tell it was very serious.

"Yeah we are… but never mind that…Ginny what's wrong?" I said quickly taking a spot next to her on the bed.

"Harry and I broke up at the funeral." She said.

I gasped and put my hands to my mouth, I quickly asked her why. This was the last thing I expected to happen. Harry had seemed happier with Ginny than I had seen him in years, and the way he looked at her was almost exactly the way Ron looked at me. I had thought Harry was falling in love with her. As if reading my thoughts Ginny spoke again.

"He did it because he's in love with me…" she said almost bitterly, and a tear leaked down her cheek.

"I don't understand…" I said softly.

"He told me that being with me felt too perfect, like a part of someone else's life, but that was the problem. He said you all have a mission, and if he stays with me that Voldemort could use me to get to him. That he would hurt me to hurt Harry, and Harry couldn't let that happen. He said everyone he loves ends up getting hurt or dying, and he could take that chance with me." She said, and then she looked down at her hands, I saw the tears begin to fall and I wrapped my arms tightly around her.

"Oh Ginny… I know how hard this must be, but I will tell you one thing." I said.

"What's that?" said Ginny softly.

"I know Harry, and if I had any doubts before, what you just said cleared them. You're right he's in love with you Ginny, I'd wager he's probably thinking if he makes it through this he wants to spend the rest of his life with you. And I know this is killing him just as much as it's killing you." I said, as I rubbed her shoulder.

"Well that's something…" she said softly.

Ginny and I went to bed early that night. Both of us were emotionally exhausted, I heard Ginny crying as I drifted off to sleep, and I wondered in my heart how much more pain was on the way in these next dark months.

My first month at the Burrow was not what I would call pleasant. Ron and I had finally decided to inform his mother of our plans to go with Harry three days after I had arrived. To say she was furious would be an understatement, but I think the thing that made her the most angry was that we couldn't' tell her where we were going or what we were doing. We had been sworn to absolute secrecy by Harry. Ron and I should have been in the honeymoon stage of our relationship, but with all the horrible things that were happening we were simply clinging to our relationship as a bit of good in the whole crummy mess. We had been extra careful to make sure we were not acting particularly romantic in front of Ginny, because we did not want to rub it in her face, she still very broken up about the situation with Harry. Ron and I would try to catch wonderful moments together alone in his room, but they were few and far between. Even when we were alone together we didn't do much. We mostly held hands and cuddled. I just loved being able to be so close to him, he was the security that kept me going. Mrs. Weasley seemed perfectly fine with our relationship until one day when she came upstairs to tell us dinner was ready and found us asleep on Ron's bed together. We hadn't been doing anything inappropriate we'd simply been talking and fallen asleep but from that point on a seed was planted in Mrs. Weasley's brain about what we _could_ be doing up there in Ron's room, and she was very particular about where and when she let us spend time alone together.

We went to pick up Harry at the end of July. There had been a lot of speculation on how we would get him, because it became apparent about half way through July that the Magical transportation office had been infiltrated by Death Eaters, now if we tried to move Harry magically before he was seventeen they would know, and if we waited until he was seventeen then the protective spell on him would be broken and they could get to him. In the end it was decided that we would fly to get Harry, because then they couldn't track us, and then once we had gotten him, six of us would take a Polyjuice Potion and turn into him so that if we were followed they wouldn't know who to go for. I pointed out that Harry wouldn't like this plan, because he wouldn't want people risking their lives for him, but Moody told me that they weren't giving him the choice. We arrived at his house a few days before his birthday in the dead of night. Moody explained the plan and Harry of course hated it, but after they convinced him that he didn't have a choice he begrudgingly gave us his hair. Ron, Fleur, Fred, George, Mundungus, and I all took the potion. I felt my hair retracting into my skull and I shot up much taller. Since I had never taken Polyjuice potion successfully I found the sensation interesting. Mad-Eye told us who we would all be riding with, I was to go with Kingsley by thestral. I still couldn't see the creatures which was disconcerting, but with Kingsley holding me on it I knew it wouldn't be as frightening. Harry ran to grab his trunk and Hedwig, and we all went to wait for him in the garden. Kingsley offered to help me onto the thestral, but before he did Ron grabbed me into a fierce hug. It was odd because at Harry's height I was at a completely different angle to him. He looked into my eyes and told me to be careful. I said I would but I couldn't contain a snort of laughter. He raised his eyebrow, and I gave him an apologetic look.

"I'm sorry Ron... I'm not trying to be insensitive… it's just… this is weird… you're _Harry_." I said.

"Well how do you think I feel??" said Ron with a smirk, "I'm mean Harry's a great guy… but I don't swing that way." Said Ron and we both laughed and he hugged me again.

"Alright we've seen enough of Harry being mushy with himself over there!" called Fred, who also looked like Harry.

Kingsley helped me onto the thestral and then climbed up behind me. Ron mounted a broom with Tonks, and shot a slightly guilty look at Lupin as he put his arms around her waist. Tonks and Lupin had bee married earlier that summer. We rose into the air and almost immediately we were surrounded by Death Eaters they began throwing Killing Curses left and right, and Hagrid immediately sped off with Harry. Four Death Eaters chased after them but I couldn't tell what was happening. Kingsley kicked the sides of the animal we were on and it took of flying at an unbelievable speed. Five of them followed us. I managed to stun one of them, and Kingsley another. He hit one with a spell that sent him flying off his broom but we were flying too fast to see if his counterparts had caught him. Suddenly I let out a terrible scream, there was a man flying without the aide of a broom and he was coming straight for us. His skin was bone white and his eyes were blood red slits. I knew there was only one person this could be, in that moment I truly thought I was going to die. Suddenly Voldemort stopped, and then he vanished and quickly after that his followers stopped pursuing us. Kingsley waited a moment and then turned his broom in a different direction. I asked him why they had left us and he said the only reason they would do that is if they figured out who the real Harry was. I screamed that we had to help him but Kingsley said no, we would get to our Portkey and then see what had happened. We ended up in an alley, and there was a bent hanger lying on the ground suddenly it glowed blue and we grabbed it. We spun around and landed in the Weasley's yard. Harry came running out and I felt instantly relieved, I ran and threw my arms around him. Kingsley asked what had happened and apparently the Death eaters had figured out who Harry was because he had used a disarming spell, which was known to be sort of his signature move. I asked who else had gotten back and he said only him, Hagrid, Lupin, and George were back, and George had lost an ear. My heart constricted, Ron was supposed to be back before me, where was he? I nervously pulled on my hair, which was long and bushy again, and waited in the yard. Mr. Weasley and Fred showed up and I was beginning to panic, I couldn't let myself think that he would not be back I pushed the thought from my mind and my heart. Tears filled my eyes as I looked into the empty garden. Suddenly there was a flash and he was standing there. I screamed to everyone inside that they were back and I ran to him. He mumbled something about me being okay and then I wrapped my arms around him. I gasped incoherently at him and he patted my back and said he was fine. Tonks told us he had stunned a Death eater straight in the head. I asked him questioningly if that was true and he grumpily told me I didn't need to act so surprised before he broke away. A few moments later Bill and Fleur arrived. We were all very relieved, but then Bill gave us the horrible news, Mad Eye Moody had been killed. Apparently Mundungus Fletcher had panicked when he saw Voldemort coming towards them and Apparated away. Then one of the Death Eaters caught Moody with a Killing Curse. There was a fair amount of crying including me as Hagrid passed around small shots of Firewhisky and we toasted Moody. The whisky burned my throat but I relished the pain, I couldn't believe he was gone. Was this how it was going to be from now on, people being hurt and killed left and right? The conversation turned to how the Death Eaters knew we were there. Lupin seemed to think someone in our ranks turned on us, Harry insisted it was probably and accident or something we hadn't thought of. When Lupin reacted in exasperation Harry angrily asked if Lupin was implying that he was a fool. Lupin said no, just that he always wanted to see the best. Then they said they were going to go collect Moody's body. Harry wanted to go along, and then to leave. They quickly told him that he wasn't going anywhere because the Burrow had been set up to protect him. He tried to argue that he didn't want to put anyone else in danger but in the end they refused to let him leave and he was very annoyed. Mrs. Weasley tried to change the subject by asking Harry where Hedwig was so we could put her in Ron's room. He didn't answer her and I felt a familiar bad feeling rising in my stomach. He changed the subject and said something about how his wand had acted of it's own accord when Voldemort came at him. It had spun in his hand and done a spell without his help we all tried to point out that wasn't possible, but it just seemed to make him angry, so we dropped it. He seemed to be as bad as he was fifth year… if not worse. Harry muttered something about going outside for fresh air and he left. Ron and I sat there with his family for awhile longer. I let the tears slid down my cheeks and Ron absentmindedly rubbed my shoulders and ran his hands through my hair. Finally when it seemed like Harry had been gone for a a long time Ron and I got up and went to check on him. We found him on his knees at the edge of the garden shaking from head to toe. We were worried that maybe he was going to try and leave again, but then he told us that he had just seen a vision of Voldemort torturing Olivander. I couldn't believe it, I told him quickly he had to get rid of those visions once and for all, Voldemort was taking over everything, if he got Harry's mind too I was terrified there would be no hope for us at all.

Over the next few weeks things were very hard at the Burrow. Mad Eye's death seemed to hang over us like a dark cloud. Not to mention the fact that once Mrs. Weasley had ascertained from Harry that we really were leaving school to go on a secret mission. She decided her new plan was to keep us so busy with separate tasks in preparation for the wedding, that we never saw each other for more than five seconds. Not to mention now that we had both Harry and Ginny in the same house Ron and I were being extra careful to keep our relationship subdued, because it was painfully obvious how miserable the two of them were without each other. Finally we got a bit of a break when one day Mrs. Weasley attempted to break us all up by telling Ron to clean his room, Harry to help Mr. Weasley muck the chickens and Ginny and I to change the sheets in the guest bedroom because Fleur's parents would be arriving shortly. Ron trumped up to his room grumbling but Ginny and I pointed out to Mrs. Weasley that she had already had us change the sheets the day before. She got very frustrated as she realized she didn't have any other particular tasks for us to do at that moment. I said I was going upstairs and she shot me a warning look but Ginny intervened.

"Mum…" she said, "first of all, Ron is cleaning his room remember? Second of all it's nine o'clock in the bloody morning, what kind of mischief are they going to get up to?" she said giving her mother a stern look.

Mrs. Weasley shrugged her shoulders begrudgingly and went back to tidying the kitchen. I smiled at Ginny who gave me a smirk back and shook her head at her mother. She seemed to be acting more like her old self, but I was not fooled for a second. I knew Ginny too well, and for that matter I knew Harry even better, they both had a kind of hollowness that came through in their voices, and their eyes especially when they looked at each other. I wanted desperately to tell them to just stop being stupid, but I knew Harry had a valid reason for what he was doing. I went up the stairs and opened the door to Ron's room. He jumped up from where he was lying on the bed and began to furiously act like he was cleaning, but then he saw me and dropped the pile of things he had collected back onto the messy floor and sat back down on his bed. I went over and sat down next to him and he immediately slipped his hand into mine a squeezed it.

"How are you doing 'Mione?" He said.

I loved his new nick name for me. He only used it when we were in private and there was something about it that was sweet. The way he pronounced it made it almost sound like he was saying, 'mine' and I had a sneaking suspicion that wasn't a coincidence. I never had been one for pet names I thought they were rather indulgent, but this wasn't like the revolting way Lavender had insisted on calling him Won Won, when they were dating. It was simple and uncomplicated, he had just started saying it one day, and it felt…natural. Just like us.

"I'm ok…." I said softly, "It's just all going down hill so fast… I can't believe Moody is gone"

"I know…" said Ron, "But maybe he's not, Bill could have been confused about what he saw. Listen, you have to try and stay optimistic, we're going to be together, and we'll have Harry, and I know you've been working really hard to make sure we have everything we need to be prepared."

This was true; I HAD been working round the clock since I came to the Burrow reading books and sorting through our things to make sure that we were completely prepared for the task ahead of us. I smiled and nodded at Ron as I stood up and moved to the corner. I began once again sorting through all the books we owned trying to decide which ones to take with us. By, all the books we owned, I meant all the books Harry and I owned, Ron didn't have many books that didn't deal with Quidditch. As I began making two stacks I saw Ron lay back down on his bed. I looked up at him and he was sprawled out on his back with his hands behind his head and he was unabashedly staring at me.

"What?" I said as I pretended to glare at him.

"I'm just enjoying the view from up here…" said Ron with a smirk.

I went back to stacking books but I felt my cheeks get slightly warm, and I knew he was still staring at me. Just then the door of the room burst open again. Ron jumped up and began loudly saying that he was working, but we saw it was just Harry and Ron flopped on his bed again. He began to tell Harry his theory about Moody maybe still being alive but Harry pointed out the Bill said he saw him get cursed, and I pointed out that even if he hadn't gotten hit with the Killing Curse we knew he fell off his broom, and we were almost two thousand feet in the air, so there was no way he could have survived. Ron griped that we just wanted him to be dead and I asked how he could say that… he gave me an apologetic look and then turned to Harry. He pointed out that the death Eaters had probably taken care of the body before the Order member's had gotten back to it. Harry said something about Barty Crouch's body being transformed into a bone, and I couldn't take it anymore, I couldn't bear to imagine Moody like that. I gasped for him to stop and then broke into tears. I saw Harry move to comfort me and he began apologizing profusely, but Ron got to me first. He put his arm around me and handed me his hanky. I dried my eyes and said thank you to him. I was just realizing that this was the most affectionate we had been in front of Harry since we began dating, when I accidentally dropped the Monster book of Monster's on Ron's foot, and the strange book bit him making him yelp in pain and jump back onto the bed. Harry asked me what I was doing and I explained. As both Ron and I suspected the first thing he did was try to convince us that we shouldn't come along. I snapped at him and told him that we were coming, and he couldn't stop that. He asked me if we were sure that we'd thought it through and that did it. I snapped at him sarcastically that no we hadn't thought it through at all. That's why I had spent the whole summer working on potions, and sorting books and going over every spell I thought we might need, not to mention researching Horcruxes. That's why I had modified my parent's memories so that they had no clue who I was and sent them off to Australia without even saying goodbye. As I said this last part tears welled up in my eyes, I hadn't spoken about my parents since the day Ron came to get me. The minute I started crying Ron was off the bed and next to me again with his arm around me. Harry whispered that he didn't realize, but I cut him off. I told him we knew exactly what we were doing. Then I turned to Ron and told him to show Harry what he had done, he was reluctant, but he got up and headed for the door of the room and Harry followed him. They came back a few minutes later and Ron was explaining to Harry that he had transformed the ghoul that lived in the attic so that it looked like him with spattergoit, which was a highly contagious and deadly disease. This would be a good excuse for why Ron wasn't at school, and it even had tangible proof. I saw in Harry's face that he finally realized we were sticking with him no matter what, and I felt a little bit of resolve come back into my heart as I realized that he was finally going to accept that we were coming with him. The conversation turned to Horcruxes, we were trying to decide how to go about looking for them. Harry asked if we had any idea how to destroy them and I told him I'd been researching it. Ron curiously asked me how, since there had been no books on them in the library. I sheepishly told him that after Dumbledore's funeral, I had decided to try using the Summoning Spell on any Horcrux books that might be in Hogwarts and it had brought me a collection from Dumbledore's office. I felt a bit guilty about taking them, but I also thought he'd probably want us to have them. I went on to explain to the boys that the only way to destroy a Horcrux was to attack it with something so destructive it couldn't repair itself. That's what Harry had done with Riddle's diary, which we now knew to be one of his Horcruxes, he had destroyed it with a Basilisk fang, which has one of the most deadly poisons known to man. We continued to talk about Horcruxes for few minutes, and then Mrs. Weasley came barreling into the room fuming and told us we'd better get downstairs and help sort wedding presents. We ran quickly downstairs; I didn't like Mrs. Weasley this way, she and I had always gotten along very well.

By the time Harry's birthday rolled around a few days later, we were all counting the minutes until the wedding was over. Fleur's parents had arrived the day before, and while Mrs. Weasley was being a perfectly polite hostess to them, she was becoming even more out of control and wild with us. I went down to the kitchen on Harry's birthday and added my present to the pile he had gotten. He opened them all happily but I noticed that Ginny had not come down yet. I had left her sitting on her bed looking lost in thought. Suddenly Mrs. Delcour and both Fleur and Gabrielle came into the kitchen. Ron, Harry, and I retreated to the stairs, because it was becoming far too crowded. I told Harry I would pack his presents. We were leaving after the wedding the next day and I had giving myself the job of packing because I'd seen Ron and Harry's packing skills and I wanted to make sure we used every spare inch of space. Without thinking I commented that I had all our things packed and most of our clothes, but I was just waiting for the rest of Ron's underwear to come out of the laundry. He stopped and gave me a half shocked half horrified look. He tried to speak but it came out as incoherent sputter. Harry rolled his eyes and I contained a smirk. We had just reached the first landing; Ginny opened the door to her room and asked Harry if he would come in for a second. I saw the look on both their faces and grabbed Ron by the elbow to pull him up the stairs. He had also seen the look and was glaring at the two of them with his best big brother look. I gently pulled on his arm and he reluctantly followed me. He seemed to not want to dwell on what was going on below so he changed the topic back to what we had been talking about previously.

"You know I could have packed my own underwear…" he said grumpily the color rising in his face.

"Oh don't be such a baby Ron… I packed Harry's underwear too you know. I'm just trying to make sure we use our space most efficiently." I said.

We had just reached the top landing and we went into Ron's room. I began to put Harry's presents into a small handbag that I had enlarged magically to hold everything that we might need.

"Incidentally…" I said as I put the last present in the bag, "I find the fact that you own Chudley Cannon's boxers rather amusing. Who do you plan on seeing that particular bit of team support?"

"Just because no one sees them, doesn't mean I'm supporting my team any less." Said Ron with a smirk, and he came over and took both my hands in his.

Ron put his forehead against mine. He softly rubbed his nose on mine and I smiled. He dropped one of my hands and moved his hand up to my neck, he brushed my hair back and softly ran his hand down the side of my neck. He leaned down and gently kissed my temple and then my cheek. I felt myself tense. Ron and I had yet to have a proper kiss. I knew he was waiting for me, because he didn't want to do anything until I was ready. He had been giving me many hints and opportunities but I had been shying away. I wasn't sure what it was, maybe it was because I spent the better part of last year watching him and Lavender slobbering all over each other, but I knew that I wanted our first kiss to be something special. No it was more than that; I wanted all our kisses to be special. I didn't want to kiss my boyfriend just because he was there, I wanted him to remember those moments.

"We should probably go down and see if your Mum needs any help…" I said.

We walked down the stairs but when we got to Ginny's door Ron stopped and looked at it in horror.

"Are they still in there??" he said angrily and before I could stop him he walked over and slammed open the door.

Sure enough Ginny and Harry were in the middle of a very passionate kiss, and I couldn't believe Ron had done that! They jumped apart quickly and an uncomfortable tension filled the room. Ginny said Happy Birthday to Harry in the same hollow voice that she had been using for so long. Harry turned and quickly left the room. Ron was right behind him and by the time I caught up with them in the yard they were having a row. Ron told Harry that Ginny was heartbroken when Harry left and that he wouldn't stand for Harry messing around with her every chance he got. I tried to intervene but they both told me to stay out of it, so I stood back. Harry promised that it wouldn't let it happen again, and then he stalked off. Ron still seemed very angry as I walked over to him. I pulled him into the shade of one of the trees in the garden and we sat down. I tried to explain to him what had happened. I explained to him that Harry was in love with Ginny, but he was trying to keep her safe. That he didn't want to break up with her but he felt like he had to. Ron told me that he was thankful that Harry was trying to protect Ginny, and he respected him for it, but as long as they were broken up, he wouldn't stand for Harry snogging her and then changing his mind. I nodded and let the subject drop. That night we had a party for Harry, I noticed he and Ginny were purposefully avoiding each other and I felt horrible for them. Suddenly half way through Harry's party something very interesting happened. The Minister of Magic, Rufus Scrimgeour, showed up. He told Harry, Ron and I that we needed to talk. Apparently Dumbledore had left us each something in his will. He had left Ron his Diluminator, which had the ability to capture all the light in a specific place. He had left me a book called the Tales of Beedle and Bard. Harry had been left the Snitch from his first Quidditch. I was furious that they had waited this long to give us our things, I knew the Ministry had confiscated them to see if there was some hidden meaning behind them. I was sure this was true but obviously they had not figured it out. After a few more minutes of inane questioning about why Dumbledore would leave us these things Scrimgeour got up to leave. He told us one last thing, that Dumbledore had left Harry the sword of Godric Gryffindor. We were instantly filled with hope, we had earlier that week deduced that the sword was one of the few things that could destroy Horcruxes. Our excitement quickly turned to rage as the Minister informed us that Harry would not be receiving the sword, because it had been decided it was the property of Hogwarts and therefore not Dumbledore's to give. We argued with him but it was no use, he left and we went back to the party. After it was over I quickly pulled Harry and Ron upstairs. We immediately began discussing what the things we had been left meant. Ron's seemed obvious, we could us it in case we needed darkness, but I sort of thought that was too simple, but I let it go. Harry informed us that he thought he knew what his was for and we were all very excited. Snitch's had skin memories, it was a way of determining who caught them, they only responded to the touch of the last person who had caught them. I had realized this the second Harry received the Snitch and was nervous when he held it in front of Scrimgeour, I thought maybe it would reveal it's secret right then. It hadn't and I was instantly relieved and disappointed. Yet now Harry asked us if we remembered how he had caught his first Snitch. Suddenly understanding dawned on Ron's face and he gasped that Harry had nearly swallowed his first Snitch. We both looked at him with apprehension as he slowly put the Snitch to his lips. At first we thought nothing had happened, but then writing appeared, it said; _I open at the close._ Then it vanished. I had no clue what that meant but we decided we'd have to figure it out later. Ron went on to explained what Dumbledore had given me, apparently it was a book of old Wizarding Fairy Tales. I hadn't even known that Wizards had Fairy Tales, and I certainly didn't know why Dumbledore would want me to have them, but I assumed that was another mystery for another time. I told them we should get some sleep so we would oversleep the next day for the wedding. I snuck back down to Ginny's room and slipped in quietly. She was lying with her back to me and she looked asleep but as I lay down in my bed I could hear her crying softly and my heart ached for her.

The next day was the wedding. Thankfully now that the day had arrived Mrs. Weasley seemed to calm down considerably. I spent the morning helping Ginny get ready, she seemed rather subdued but at least a little happier than she had the night before. I had a feeling she was simply accepting the situation, Ginny was always remarkably strong like that. The dress she was wearing was a lovely golden color that went perfectly with her hair. I chose a dress that was lilac, because purple was one of my favorite colors. Ginny help me use a straightening serum on my hair so that it was sleek and shiny. I headed down the stairs and was about to make my way out to the Marquee when a very unpleasant looking old woman came walking into the kitchen muttering at Mrs. Weasley. She turned and commented that I must be the Muggleborn. She then went on to say I had bad posture and skinny ankles, then she promptly walked away. I stood there in stunned silence but then Ginny came and informed that I had just met Aunt Muriel, and if those were the only things she could find wrong with me then she must like me. I headed down the hill towards the large marquee tent, Ron and Harry were standing by the edge taking people to their seats. Harry was disguised as a random red head from the village, with Polyjuice Potion. They were passing him off as a little known cousin. As I walked up to them I blushed slightly at the way Ron was staring at me, he didn't seem to notice his mouth was hanging open slightly. He breathed that I looked amazing and I teasingly told him he needn't act so surprised, throwing his words from a few weeks earlier back at him. He gave me a slight grumpy look but he smiled. Just then I got a shock as someone came up behind me and said hello. I shrieked as I realized it was Viktor! I hadn't seen him in over two years. He looked older and he had grown a beard. Ron got very grumpy at his presence, and I was thankful when Harry took Viktor to his seat.

"You seem awfully happy that _Vicky_ is here…" said Ron grumpily.

"Don't you even start… he's still my friend." I said and I slipped my hand through Ron's, "Let go find our seats."

The wedding was beautiful. I cried a few tears. The whole wedding party looked absolutely gorgeous. I heard Aunt Muriel comment that Ginny's dress was far too low cut and I saw Ginny shoot a mischievous wink at Harry who was of course staring at her. He started to grin but then stopped half way and purposefully looked somewhere else. I rolled my eyes inwardly, they were so impossible. After the ceremony was over the chairs were cleared out and a dance floor appeared along with many round tables. We made our way over and sat down at a table with Luna. Soon music started playing and people began dancing. We watched with amusement as Luna got up and began twirling around completely on her own in the middle of the dance floor. Suddenly Viktor showed up at our table. He asked us who Luna's father was and we told him. He looked rather put out and I was about to ask what was the matter when Ron suddenly asked me if I wanted to dance with him. I was so taken aback that I forgot all about Viktor as I quickly said yes. Ron pulled me out onto the dance floor and put his arms around my waist. I put mine around his neck and we began to turn slowly on the spot. It was not near as graceful as dancing with Viktor at the Yule Ball had been, but it was better. Fred and George cat called at us from the edge of the dance floor and when Ron looked over at them they gave him a double thumbs up and wiggled their eyebrows. To my surprise Ron did not glare at them he simply grinned and looked rather proud of himself. I giggled. Ron and I danced until my feet felt like they were going to fall off. After almost an hour on the dance floor I told Ron I needed to sit down and he laughed. He said he'd go get us some butterbeers and I headed towards Harry. I slumped down next to him and took off my shoes to rub my feet. Harry looked even more subdued than usual, I had noticed Ginny dancing a lot with Lee Jordan and I wondered if that had something to do with it. I asked him if he was alright, and he looked at me with a sad expression. He was about to speak when something happened. A lynx Patronus danced into the middle of the party. We heard Kingsley's voice and it said; "_The Ministry has fallen. Scrimgeour dead. They are coming."_ Suddenly there was chaos everyone was screaming and pushing each other but there was only one thing on my mind. I screamed Ron's name. I stood on my tip toes trying to see him over the crowd which was jostling us. I couldn't find him, I screamed his name again and again the panic rising inside me. Harry grabbed my hand so that we would not lose each other in the mob. Suddenly Ron was there. He grabbed my other arm and we all spun on the spot. I realized I was the one Apparating them so I took us to the first place I thought of, Tottenham Court Road. When we got there the panic began to set in, Harry cursed not having the Invisibility Cloak or any clothes to change into. I quickly explained my little bag with the extension charm on it. I gave them clothes to change into so they weren't in robes, and then told Harry to put on his Invisibility Cloak so he wouldn't be seen. We walked down the road and Harry quickly asked about everyone else at the wedding. I told him we couldn't worry about them at that moment, and he was about to argue when Ron told him I was right, and that most of the people there were part of the Order, so they would keep the guests safe. Harry accepted this but still looked terrified, I had a feeling there was only one person back at the Burrow he was thinking about. I pulled them into a small café to discuss what we were going to do. We were just talking about where we should go when two large men in workers uniforms came in. They sat down in a booth next ours and then as we kept talking suddenly they made sharp movements. Harry instinctive drew his wand and suddenly I knew what was happening. Just then Ron dove across the table and shoved me down on the bench, as a spell came flying at both of us. Harry stunned the one Death eater but the other hit Ron with a spell that bound him up with ropes. Harry tried to stun the second one but he missed and the Death eater threw a table at us. I quickly put the Death Eater in a full body bind, and then I tried to sever the ropes on Ron. I accidentally cut him the first time because my hands were shaking so badly, but once he was free, we decided to wipe their memories and fix the shop so they would have no knowledge of seeing us there. We did so, and also wiped the waitresses memory, then we began to try to think of somewhere to hide. Obviously they were tracking us somehow. Harry said we should go to Grimauld Place, we pointed out that it was no longer safe, because Snape could get in. But he retorted that Snape was one Death Eater, and that there had been spells set up against him. We were better taking our chances of running into one Death Eater than staying here were loads could come after us. I realized he was right. We Apparated to the Square where Grimauld Place was, we quickly stole to the door and opened it slowly. When we walked in we jumped, because we heard Moody's voice. Suddenly I felt my tongue roll up in my mouth, and then almost immediately loosen again. It was apparently a Tongue tie Jinx, put in place by Moody against Snape. We took a cautious step forward. Suddenly a horrible figure rose out of the carpet, it was the corpse of Dumbledore! I screamed and fell to the floor and my scream woke the painting of Mrs. Black who began adding her screams mine. Harry yelled at the ghostly figure that we had not killed him, and it vanished. Harry pulled the curtains back over Mrs. Blacks painting and Ron helped me to my feet. I used a spell to check and see if there were any other humans in the house, and there weren't. We quickly made our way upstairs, because I didn't want to be anywhere near the place where that corpse had appear for any longer than I had to. We went up to the drawing room and I checked out the window. It didn't look like we had been followed. Suddenly Harry cried out in pain and clutched his head. Ron and I jumped up to help him, he said he'd suddenly felt Voldemort's anger. I was very scared, I began berating him, telling him he had to close his mind or we'd all be in danger. He snapped at me that he knew that, but we were interrupted by a weasel Patronus that came flying through the wall. Mr. Weasley's voice informed us that the family as safe, but we should not reply because they were being watched. I wilted in relief and Ron came and put his arms around me with a laugh. Ron and I sat on the couch and suddenly we felt slightly awkward that we were excluding Harry, but he kindly said that he was relieved too. I asked them if we could just put the sleeping bags on the floor in the drawing room, because I didn't want to sleep alone. Ron softly said that was fine. Harry said he had to go to the bathroom and he walked out. I looked into Ron's eyes and felt all the tension that had built up over the past few hours relaxing. He gave me a very soft look and then pulled me into his arms and hugged me tightly. I hugged him back and we sat there for a few moments, clinging to each other as if we were the only good each other had left. Finally I pulled away and told Ron that I was going to bring Harry his toothbrush. When I came back it seemed that Ron had a fit of chivalry and he had constructed a sort of bed out of the couch cushions and put my sleeping bag on it. I climbed into it and lay down facing him. A moment later Harry came in and we both turned to look at him. He muttered a hasty goodnight, and climbed in his sleeping bag. He turned his back to us and said nothing else. Ron and I laid there looking at each other in silence. I reached my hand out and ran my fingertips along the side of his face. He squeezed his eyes closed in an expression that almost looked like he was in pain, and he gently pressed his face against my hand. He took my hand in his and he brought it to his lips where he kissed it slowly and firmly. He kept hold of my hand as he laid his head back down on his pillow. He gently traced up and down my palm with his finger tips as he looked deeply into my eyes. He mouthed the words, "it's going to be ok…" and I smiled and mouthed back, "I know." I lay there getting lost in his blue eyes, and then suddenly it was morning. I opened my eyes and saw Ron asleep next to me. I watched his face as he slept, I smiled at the way his pale reddish blond eye lashes fluttered slightly when he snored. Suddenly I looked beyond Ron and my revelry was broken. Harry was gone. I gasped and shook Ron awake. He sat up suddenly and looked around confused. I told him Harry was missing and he jumped up, we ran up the stairs to try and find him. Ron stopped to check the third floor and I kept running. I yelled his name and I heard him call back to me from the top floor. I ran to him breathlessly, I was instantly relieved and also very annoyed at him. I yelled to Ron that I found him and he was fine, and Ron yelled back for me to tell him that he was a git. I smirked but then turned my attention back to Harry.


	9. Chapter 7part 2

_Sorry it took me so long to get this one out folks, I was busy graduating for college and getting married. But here it is, and I worked extra hard on it so I really hope you like it. The last installment of this chapter shouldn't take as long I promise. _

I lashed out at him, more out of displaced anxiety than anger, and I asked him roughly what in the world he was doing up there. Suddenly I looked around and noticed that the room I was standing in must have belonged to Sirius, there were many pictures and posters of him and his friends and also a large Gryffindor banner, I also noticed that the room had been completely ripped apart. I curiously asked Harry what in the world he had been doing, and he quietly handed me a letter that he said he'd just found it. I began to read it and my heart ached. It was from his mother Lily, to Sirius. It seemed to be written very close to the time of her death, she talked about him and his father and told Sirius how much they missed him. Every word of the letter was saturated with love and care. I looked sadly at Harry, ever since I had met him I had always had a soft spot in my heart for him for this reason, growing up without a family, I always, somewhere in my mind, felt like I had to protect him just a bit more, keep him a bit safer. Now in reading this letter it re-affirmed this feeling in my heart, all that was good and wonderful about Harry came from these amazing people, and I knew that they would want their son to be loved just as much as they loved him. I said his name slowly, trying to think of how to tell him what I was feeling, but he cut me off… handing me a photograph, it was torn down the middle but there was a man laughing brightly at the antics of a small toddler riding a miniature broom. I knew instantly who the picture was of, because the man in the picture bore a striking resemblance to the man standing before me, I smiled as baby Harry zoomed in and out of the picture happily. Harry softly explained that he had been looking for the other half of the picture, the half with his mother in it. I could hear the pain in Harry's voice, I couldn't even begin to understand how hard it was for him, to lose everyone who had ever loved you, to feel that alone. I looked around the room as I tried to find the right words, but suddenly something else came to my mind. I asked Harry if he had made the whole mess in this room, and he confirmed my suspicion that he hadn't. I explained to him that I had noticed all of the rooms I had gone into seemed to have been searched. He interjected that it was probably Snape looking for information on the Order, but I pointed out that Snape was _in_ the Order so he would most likely have all the information he needed. Harry then countered that maybe he was looking for information on Dumbledore. He pointed out that the second page of his mother's letter to Sirius was missing and that his mother had mentioned Bathilda Bagshot. Now my interest was peaked, Bathilda Bagshot had written A History of Magic and was well known as one of the most noted historian's in the magical world. My interest was peaked still further when Harry pointed out that he had heard from Aunt Muriel at the wedding that she was still alive, he then tried to non-chalantly suggest that we go meet her under the guise that it would be beneficial to our mission, but I saw through the excuse in a second and he knew it. He took the letter and photo back from me and took his time stuffing them in his pocket so he didn't have to look me in the eye. I instantly felt bad, I softened my voice as I tried to explain to Harry that I completely understood why he would want to meet a woman who knew both his parents and Dumbledore so well, but that I thought it might be very dangerous to go anywhere near Godric's Hollow, because I truly felt in my heart that would be the first place the Death Eaters might look for him. He was still avoiding my gaze as he reluctantly told me that Aunt Muriel had talked with him at the wedding and told him some truly awful things about Dumbledore, things about his family and his life before school. I was appalled, not only did the information Harry had just given me put a heavy weight on my already burdened heart, but I was sorely disappointed that Harry would even consider believing such awful things when his sources were none other than Aunt Muriel and Rita Skeeter, two of the most conniving sources on the planet. I thought he'd have more faith in Dumbledore, and I told him so. He brushed it off but I knew a seed of doubt had been planted in his mind about Dumbledore and it killed me to see it. Finally I decided to change the subject, I realized we had been standing in the room for quite some time, so I suggested we go downstairs and have some breakfast, I knew Ron would be wondering what happened to us. Harry agreed grumpily and we walked down the stairs in silence. Suddenly Harry called my name and I realized he had stopped a flight of stairs behind me. He was staring at a door as he said that he thought he had found R.A.B. I was momentarily stunned and then gasped as his words sunk in, R.A.B. was the man who stole the Horcrux! I dashed back up to the landing Harry was on as quickly as possible. He showed me the sign, Regulus Archurus Black. I grabbed his arm, as excitement rose inside me, could we dare to hope that after all our stressing and worrying the lost Horcrux could be in this very house with us? Harry quickly pointed out that Regulus was a Death Eater who ended up being murdered by his own when he deserted. I began to shake with excitement as I gasped to him that it fit with the note in the fake locket! I quickly leaned over the banister and screamed for Ron to come upstairs. He came barreling up the stairs a few seconds later and was babbling quickly trying to figure out what was going on. I simple pointed silently at the door and watched with amusement as he put the pieces together in his own head. We all entered the room, the boys began to tear it apart looking for the locket, I pointed out that a Summoning Spell would be a better use of our time. When it yielded nothing, I realized slightly sheepishly that the locket was probably protected from them, and we went back to searching manually but not before Ron made a sarcastic comment. We searched for over an hour tearing the room apart but found nothing. The boys seemed to become down heartened but I was more determined than ever, if there was a Horcrux under this roof I would find it. I felt for the first time that maybe I really could do this mission. I was going through every place it could possibly be in my head, I pointed out to the boys that there were plenty of places it could be hidden I reminded them of the old clock in the drawing room that had spit nuts and bolts at us two summers ago when we had been cleaning the house. Suddenly I stopped, in remembering that summer it had come to me. My optimism deflated inside me like someone had poked a hole in a balloon. I slowly turned to them and reminded them that there had been a locket in the drawing room cabinet… none of us could open it. I trailed off and looked at them in horror, we all knew that locket had joined a large bag of items that had been thrown away as trash. I felt the hopelessness filling in around me again, we could never catch a break. Suddenly Harry pointed out that Kreacher had stolen many of the knick-knacks from the garage bag. We all took off for the kitchen, it was a slim chance but it was the best that we had at the moment. We checked Kreacher's pathetic little nest next to the boiler, but there was nothing, Ron and I were in complete despair but Harry was not finished. He called for Kreacher out of thin air and Kreacher appeared though very unwillingly, as Harry was now master of Grimauld Place he was also master of Kreacher, therefore as much a he despised it, Kreacher could not disobey him. Harry asked him if he had stolen the locket and to our joy he said yes, but we were quickly disappointed when he went on to say that Mundugus Fletcher, one of the Order's more seedy members had pilfered it shortly after Sirius death. Therefore, just as I'd feared, it could have been anywhere. I felt horribly sorry for the little elf, but with a little more persuasion Harry got him to admit that the locket had been stolen by Sirius's brother Regulus, and then Regulus charged Kreacher with it's safe keeping, and told him to destroy it. My heart broke as the elf told the story about how Regulus sacrificed his own life to steal the locket and then ordered Kreacher to leave him to die, and protect the locket. Tears streamed down the poor old elf's face, and I wished he'd allow me to hug him, but I knew he would find it a grievous insult. He called me a Mudblood but then immediately began to slam his head into the floor in punishment, because Harry had already told him not to do so. I cried for Harry to have him stop, it made me sick to my stomach to watch the poor creature have no will of his own. He sobbed as he explained what we already knew, he could not find a way to destroy the locket, not even elf magic was powerful enough. Harry began to berate him for choosing to betray Sirius to Voldemort, even after Regulus had fought him so ardently but I quickly intervened. I knew he wasn't going to like what I had to say but it was the truth, house elves were most loyal to those who treated them well. That was their nature, Regulus treated Kreacher well out of care, and Sirius treated him horribly out of bitterness towards his family. Bellatrix Lestrange knew this, and she used it against him, winning Kreacher's loyalty with kindness, I pointed out that as much as I loved Sirius, Kreacher's disloyalty was his own fault. Harry thankfully had no retort, I knew as much as he hated it, he knew I was right. I was touched when Harry actually turned to Kreacher and asked him very kindly to find Mundugus, explaining to him that he would be helping to finish the work Regulus had started. He also gave him the fake Horcrux as a gift, explaining to him it had belonged to Regulus, Ron muttered that it was overkill, but as the house elf sobbed in gratitude I knew that we had just gained an extremely useful and unshakably faithful ally.

Harry seemed to be under the impression that Kreacher would be back in minutes, and as the day wore on he got progressively antsier. I tended to stay away from him as much as possible. The days passed by slowly, and our time was spent mostly keeping watch or finding some way to occupy ourselves in the large house. I spent most of my time reading, I knew the boys were getting anxious and frustrated but I didn't know what else to do, and I knew Dumbledore had given me the Tales of Beedle and the Bard, for a reason and I was determined to find out what it was. It didn't help matters any that there was very little food in the house and without Kreacher's magic I was forced to make do, and not very successfully. As more time went on things went from bad to worse, we were all hungry and stressed, and the icing on the cake was that we now were fairly sure there were Death Eater's watching the house. We deduced that they didn't know we were already inside, and were probably on watch waiting for us to show up. Yet their presence had us in a constant state of tension and fear, the result of which was increased bickering on the part of Ron and I. One night as Ron and I were snipping at each other when suddenly several things happened at once. First we heard Harry yell at someone to not move, and we suddenly realized he was not in the room with us. His yell awakened the painting of Mrs. Black who was screaming obscenities as we charged down the stairs. To our relief the intruder turned out to be none other than Remus Lupin, who had come to give us some much appreciated news of the outside world. We explained our side of the story to him, and then he gave us the news that the Death eaters had taken over full control of the Ministry and also the Daily Prophet. As the gravity of those words sunk in I felt like I was at the end of a long dark tunnel. We were truly alone, there was no where to hide, no one to turn to, and the fate of the world truly rested in our hands. Remus went n to show us that one of the newest acts put in place by the death eaters was a program to eradicate Muggle Borns from the wizarding world, by making all those accused of being Muggle Born prove their magical heritage before a court. Ron reacted violently at this spouting out how ridiculous it was. My heart was filled with warmth as I looked at him, I knew I should be terrified but in that moment, but seeing how protective he was, it was the safest I had felt in a long time. Ron went on to fiercely say that he was going to claim me as his cousin and teach me about his family tree so I could answer questions. I gripped his hand tightly and he squeezed mine back looking encouragingly into my eyes. I had never loved anyone as much as I loved him. I knew I would never be truly alone as long and he was beside me. At that moment Lupin laid another hard bit of news on us, the Death Eaters had made it Mandatory for all young witches and wizards to now attend Hogwarts, home schooling was not an option so in a few short weeks we would officially be fugitives of the law. Lupin went on to ask us about our mission, and Harry had to yet again tell someone we trusted that we couldn't give them any information, it was maddening as if Dumbledore wanted us to be alone. Yet Lupin was insisting he come along anyway to try and be of help, this concerned me slightly seeing as Lupin was just married to Tonks a few short months earlier. I pointed this out but to my surprise he told me in a surly voice that Tonks was safe at her parents house. I could tell by his voice that something was wrong so I asked tentatively and was blown off, he told us in a very reluctant sort of way that Tonks was pregnant. I was overjoyed and about to congratulate him but he simply went back to talking about joining us on our mission. Ron and I exchanged confused looks but it was Harry who spoke, he basically asked Lupin why he was so keen on abandoning is wife and child. Lupin snapped he began yelling about how marrying Tonks was a mistake that he had made her an outcast, that their child would be shunned as a half breed, and always be ashamed of him. I was taken aback and quickly gasped that no child would ever be ashamed to have him as a father but he ignored me. Then the last thing I expected happened Harry stood up and said that he thought Lupin deserved to have his child be ashamed, he called him a coward and without warning Lupin pulled his wand and sent Harry flying into the wall, the last thing I saw was Lupin storming away anguish written all over his face. I turned on Harry and realized that the face I was looking at was that of a stranger, anger and hatred were written all over Harry's stone cold face. I yelled at him for speaking like that but he brushed it off with no remorse, saying Lupin deserved it. I glared at him in disgust and he snapped at me for it. Ron was quick to come to my rescue and I could tell a gigantic row was ensuing if we didn't all calm down. Ron told Harry once again that he shouldn't have said that and to my relief, Harry softened slightly as he quietly said,

"Parent's shouldn't leave their kids unless they've got to."

That did it. The tension and anger evaporated, and I tried to reach out to comfort Harry but he brushed me away and turned his back to Ron and I. We looked at each other in concern; I was not sure quite what to do anymore, things felt like they were falling down around us. Ron put his hand on the side of my face and rubbed my cheek with his thumb. He gave a sort of tired and sad little smile that I had come to know quite well. I didn't need the words to understand what he was telling me, it would be ok… somehow. I nodded and he leaned in to kiss my head, but before he could Harry turned back around and we quickly moved away from each other. He begrudgingly admitted that he shouldn't have said those things to Lupin but also said that if it got him to stay with his wife maybe it was for the best. Ron and I didn't answer him so he flopped down and began to read the Daily Prophet, Ron and I sat staring into the fire place, he slipped his hand into mine under the table and entwined our fingers. As I sat staring into the flames I became lost in my own thoughts, suddenly I was brought sharply back to reality as a loud scurrying mass of arms and legs appeared out of thin air on the kitchen floor. It was Kreacher and Mundungus! In all the chaos of the day we had completely forgotten about Kreacher's mission. I quickly disarmed Mundungus and then Harry began to question him. At first Mundungus thought we had called him in to seek revenge on him for deserting Mad Eye Moody to his death, but after he learned the real reason he gave us the information easily enough, though it was the last thing we wanted to hear. It had been confiscated from him, by none other than Delores Umbridge.

That night I was lying in bed staring at the ceiling but I couldn't sleep, there was something I couldn't get out of my mind, like a splinter. I got up and tip toed to a door on the left side of my room. After the first night we decided we should all sleep in proper beds. Harry had moved into Sirius's old room on the top floor which suited him well because he had been tending to want more and more privacy lately. Ron had insisted that he and I stay on the second floor in a pair of rooms that were connected. I knew he wanted to be able to keep me safe. I quietly opened the door that led into Ron's room and walked over to his bed. I sat down on the edge and watched him sleep, he was sprawled out on his back like usual and snoring quietly. I smirked, I knew that the deeper he fell asleep the louder his snores would get. I let my eyes follow the soft contours of his face, his rosy pinks lips slightly parted as he slept, his long nose, his bright red hair with it's tendency to curl now that it was growing longer. I never knew I could feel so deeply about another human being. As much as I knew I needed to ask him the question that was burning in my brain, I couldn't bear to wake him, he seemed so peaceful. I sighed and slipped off the bed, as I turned to head back towards my room I felt a warm hand close around my wrist.

"Hey where you goin?" said Ron drowsily and he pulled me back down on the bed and sat up to face me.

"You looked so peaceful… I didn't want to wake you." I answered him quietly.

"What's up Mione?" said Ron keenly looking at my face.

"It's just… after everything that happened with Lupin today. Something's been bothering me…" I said truthfully.

"Ok… well then tell me…" said Ron, and as he did he folded down the corner of his blanket and patted the bed next to him. I took the hint and willingly slipped under the covers and cuddled up next to him laying my head on his chest.

"Lupin said he felt like he was a burden to Tonks… that he made her an outcast, and gave his children a curse…" I said softly.

"Yeah…" said Ron prompting me to go on, as he stroked my hair softly.

I pressed my face against his chest, willing myself to ask the next question.

"Do you ever feel like that about me?" I said softly, hating that my voice seemed so small and weak.

Ron stopped stroking my hair, and sat up slightly I lifted my head to meet his gaze and he was looking at me with a mixture of concern and confusion.

"Hermione Jean Granger what in the bloody hell would make you say something like that?" he said.

"Well… as much as people say it's not true… I AM different. I will always be looked at as different, even before the Death Eaters were hunting down Muggle Borns, there were always those who looked down on me…. If you……stay with me… there are always going to be people who judge you for being with a Muggle Born…. Our children will have to live with the fact that their mother is a Muggle born, that they have Muggle gradparents, and there will be people who mock them for that….. doesn't that ever bother you?" I realized I had been talking very fast without pausing, once I had started it all poured out of me like a fountain, I looked into Ron's face and was happy to see that while he did look slightly overwhelmed, he was also smiling and shaking his head slightly.

"Oh 'Mione leave it to you to put being a Muggle Born on the same level as being a werewolf…." He said still shaking his head, "Not that either is inherently bad of course." He added quickly.

Ron sat up all the way and I turned to face him. He put his hands on each of my shoulders and looked at me sternly.

"Now you listen to me Hermione Granger." He said in a very serious voice, but the twinkle in his eye gave him away, "you are the most beautiful, amazing, smart, talented witch to come out of Hogwarts in I don't know how many years. I ask myself every single day what a girl like you would ever be doing with a stupid, ornery, git like me. You are truly the best part of my life, and to answer your question…" he moved one hand to my cheek, "no Hermione…. There has never been a day in my life that you being a Muggle Born has bothered me one bit. I've been sending slug belching curses at anyone who looks down on you for it since I was twelve years old, and I'm not about to stop now."

I beamed at him, and he grinned right back. I lifted my hand and ran my fingers across his cheek. He gave me a slightly scared slightly determined look as he slipped both hands behind my neck and began to lean his face down to mine, but before he could get there I turned my head to the side. He released me immediately and moved away. I looked up at him and I could see the hurt etched in his face.

"Ron…" I began, but he cut me off.

"It's ok I get it, you don't want to. To be honest I wouldn't blame you. With the disgusting antics I put on with Lavender last year I wouldn't be surprised if no girl ever wants to kiss me again." He said. He was keeping his voice purposefully even and he refused to meet my eye.

"Ron… is that honestly what you think? That I don't want to kiss you?" I said incredulously, as I moved close to him again.

"What else could it be Hermione… every time I get close you push me away." He said softly.

"Ron…" I said gently lifting his face and making him meet my eye, "I've never wanted anyone the way I want you." I said earnestly, and as I did I felt the color rise in my face, this was the most intimate conversation I had ever had with a boy.

"Then what is it…." said Ron softy taking my hand.

'I don't want to remember our first kiss like this, when so much horrible darkness is around us. I want it to be a memory I look back on and it is perfect nothing to mar it." I said earnestly.

"That's all? Really?" said Ron.

"For the most part yes… why? You don't think that's a good enough reason?" I said.

"No I totally understand… it's a perfectly acceptable reason. I just…. thought it had to have been about me…" he said sheepishly.

"Ron Weasley you may have made some mistakes in your life but rest assured you are everything that I want…" I said, and I wrapped my arms around him hugged him fiercely. We lay back down together, and I once again put my head against his chest listening to the sound of his heart. He held my hand in his and after a few moments of peaceful silence he spoke.

"Hey Hermione…" he said.

" Yes…" I said softly, my eyelids were beginning to feel heavy.

"When I asked you if your hesitance to kiss me was just because of our circumstances you said, 'for the most part' what was the other part?" he said.

Suddenly I was wide awake and I could feeling my face flushing bright red and I was very thankful that Ron couldn't see me in the dark.

"I was hoping you might not pick up on that one…" I said feeling thoroughly embarrassed.

"Why…"said Ron sounding amused, " what is it…"

"well… I suppose… I was just worried about kissing you late at night… in your bedroom. With how emotional and stressed we've been… I was worried things might keep going…" I stumbled around for the right words feeling completely mortified and stupid, "I just don't want to rush into anything for the wrong reasons." I finished and then buried my face in his chest feeling utterly humiliated.

" Hey…" he said softly, and it was his turn to pull my face up and make me look at him, "I don't want to rush anything either. I spent so much time with Lavender, and none of it meant anything. I want every second of my life with you to be precious."

"Me too…." I said smiling at him, but then I thought of something, "Ron…" I said tentatively, "While we're on the subject… did you and Lavender ever….." I let my voice trail off and waited apprehensively for the answer.

Ron was silent for a very long time and my heart sank. It was not that I would love him any less if the answer was yes, but I the romantic side of me really wanted that piece of him all to myself.

"She wanted to…" said Ron slowly, "but I said no… it was actually one of the things that kind of started the end of it all… I didn't love her... if you're going to do that… you should love the person."

"yeah…" I said softly and I looked deeply into his eyes, what was passing between us had absolutely no need for words.

"I should go back to bed…" I said after a few more moments.

"You're in bed silly goose…" said Ron with a smirk.

"I should go back to _my _bed." I specified.

"Alright… if you have to…" said Ron with a pronounced sigh and a grin.

I punched his arm playfully and slipped out of his bed and went to the door. I turned to him in the doorway.

"I'll see you in the morning Ron." said softly.

"Sleep well 'Mione." He said with a smile, and I closed the door and hopped back in my bed feeling much more at peace.

My sense of peace did not last long. As August began to wind down we all decided that our only course of action at the moment, was to try and steal that locket back from Delores Umbridge. The idea itself terrified me. She was one of the highest ranking officials in a Ministry that was now completely overrun by Death Eaters! Planning our current mission was a harrowing task, in which every miniscule detail had to be taken into consideration. I was under more stress than I had ever been under, but at the same time I felt like I had a purpose again. As daunting as our task seemed at least we were moving forward. Another positive turn in events was that Kreacher had now seemed to become Harry's most loyal companion and had cleaned the house to perfection while also providing us with a steady stream of delicious meals. On the evening of September first Ron and I were pouring over our notes and preparing for just such a meal when we heard Harry calling from the hallway that he had brought home ill news. In his short visit Lupin had remembered to inform us that if one Apparated precisely onto the front stoop of Number 12 Grimauld Place, that they would be protected by the Fidelus Charm. Since acquiring that knowledge we had been free(with the help of Harry's Invisibility Cloak) to come and go as we pleased. Harry walked into the kitchen and slapped the newspaper down on the table. Ron and I both gasped in horror at the headline which stated that Severus Snape would be made the new Headmaster of Hogwarts school. I snatched up the paper as quickly as I could and began to read furiously. It was a load of inane senseless propaganda by the Death Eater's about how Snape would, "uphold our finest Wizarding traditions and values" as I read I began to grumble out loud about the idea of Snape taking over Dumbledore's office… and suddenly it felt like someone had dropped a cold ice cube in my stomach as I remembered something, a horrible lapse that could have left us completely exposed! I shrieked and ran out of the kitchen without even stopping to explain. I tore up the landing to a row of pictures that were along the second floor hall. Suddenly I stopped, I knew I had to be very careful about this, the security of all three of us was at stake. I tiptoed very carefully towards a picture frame at the end of the row and was relieved to find it empty. I pulled it down as quick as possible and turned it towards myself so that if it's occupant happened to show up they wouldn't see a thing. The portrait belonged to Phineas Nigellus, he was a great uncle of Sirius, but what was infinitely more important at the moment was that he was a former Headmaster of Hogwarts and therefore had the ability to go between his painting here at Grimauld Place, and his painting in what was now Snape's office, and I had a feeling he would have no qualms about being a spy for the newly appointed Head master. I ran back to the kitchen and stuffed the portrait into my bad while explaining to the boys what I had done. We all sat down to eat and they praised me for my quick thinking. As we ate dinner Harry reported his findings while he had been out, and I began to panic as he pointed out yet another detail we had forgotten to consider. It felt like no matter how much we planned we would never be ready, then to my dismay Harry piped up he thought we should put our plan in action the following day! I gasped that we weren't prepared but both boys pointed out that we were as prepared as we would probably ever be. In the end we decided that we would go though with it. I was terrified, but also excited. Ron once again tried to convince me to stay behind. He had been on the same tack all week, and while I found it very sweet of him, it was also slightly frustrating. In the end he gave up and we all were about to go back to eating when Harry made a strange movement, he tried to make it look like he was brushing his bangs aside but I was fairly sure he had clutched his scar. A second later he excused himself quickly with the excuse that he needed to use the bathroom. I looked at Ron and he looked back at me with what I was sure was a similar expression of concern.

"Do you reckon it was his scar?" he said.

"Of course it was Ron.. he's been feeling it more and more, why do you think he's staying away from us so much?" I answered.

"It's getting almost as bad as two years ago… " said Ron darkly.

"I know… I just wish he would let us help him… I mean we're here risking our lives with him you'd think the least he's let us do is-"

My thought was cut short by loud yells coming from the upstairs bathroom. Ron and I tore up the stairs as fast as we could and pounded on the door. Harry opened it and tried to pass it off like nothing had happened, but we knew better and we confronted him on it, he admitted he had seen a vision of Voldemort killing someone. I reacted violently I yelled at him that he was not supposed to be having these visions anymore. I was angry, but I was also afraid. The image of him writhing on the floor possessed by Voldemort just a little over a year ago was still burned in my mind. Harry snapped at me that he couldn't shut Voldemort out because he wasn't strong enough so he was going to try and use the visions for good. I tried to point out that Dumbledore had warned against that and he bitterly spat to forget Dumbledore, that it was his choice. He then went back to discussing his vision with Ron. I was quiet, but concern was growing inside me. He seemed to be becoming more and more irrational as time went on. When he started once again discussing the event at the beginning of the summer where he claimed his wand moved of it's own power I couldn't hold my tongue any longer. I told him _he_ had made his wand move and he was just refusing to take responsibility for his own power. He yelled back that he knew the truth and so did Voldemort, and my denial was just making us weak. I stood there fuming at him, desperately wanting to tell him that the only thing making us weak was that he was becoming unhinged, but I didn't. I forced myself to let it go, and we all went back to going over the plan. We went to bed late that night, even after Harry retreated to Sirius's room Ron and I sat in the drawing room by the fire for awhile, simply holding each other. I knew what we were doing the next day was exceedingly dangerous, and I was afraid if I let those precious moments end I might never get them back. The next morning I waited in the kitchen for the boys, and after we had some breakfast we were off. I Apparated with Ron to a small alley right next to the Ministry entrance, he kissed my head quickly and then I Apparated back to pick up Harry. The first phase of our plan went off with without a hitch, through a combination of Puking Pastilles, and Stunning Spells, and Polyjuice Potion Ron, Harry, and I were transformed into Mafalda Hopkirk, Reg Cattermole, and a tall dark man who's name we didn't know. We all went into the public entrance which ended up being a public toilet in which you flushed yourself into the ministry through small chutes. When I got inside I noticed quite a few things the first of which was that a huge and horrible statue of a witch and wizard on thrones had been put in the middle of the Atrium and it read, _Magic is Might_. I shuddered at it, but also walked briskly towards it because the little man that I knew to be Ron was standing beside it, a few second later Harry joined us. Suddenly as we began to walk towards the lifts two very bad things happened at once. First one of the Death Eaters came up and told Ron, who he thought was Reg, that he needed to sort out his office where it was raining. In the process he also revealed that Reg's wife was awaiting trial as a Muggle Born, and asked why Reg wasn't with her. I felt instantly horrible thinking of the poor women sitting alone wondering where her husband might be, but there was nothing we could do. I quickly gave Ron some tips on how to stop the rain in the office and then shoved him off in the right direction looking terrified. Harry and I got on the lift not sure what to do when suddenly things got even worse, the doors opened and in walked Umbridge! She grabbed me, apparently I was to be her record keeper for the trials with the Muggle Borns! I didn't know what to do… so I simply went with her, hoping against hope that Harry would be able to break into her office and find the locket on his own. The entire ride down to the court rooms Umbridge chatted about her sentencing of Muggel Borns almost jovially. I wanted to wring her chubby neck, my hand s trembled slightly but I kept my mind focused on Ron and Harry, and know that if I lost my temper I would be sacrificing their safety. The doors of the lift opened and a sickening cold washed over us, the hall was lined with not only the accused but also with dementors patrolling around them. Sorrow and despair washed over me as I thought about how if anything went wrong I would be in their place. I tried to fight it, but it threatened to take hold. Then I saw a couple sitting a little ways down on the bench the woman was crying softly but the man was holding her tightly as if to protect her from the unseen power of the dementors.

"I'm so sorry Jake… so sorry you have to go through all this trouble for m-m-me.." said the woman her voice trembling.

"Tanya…" he said softly to her, "you have nothing to apologize for, it's not you who have done anything to be ashamed of…" he glared harshly at Umbridge and I as we walked past, and then turned to kiss his wife firmly on the mouth.

"Ugghh… some wizards have no pride at all…" said Umbridge in disgust as she walked past them and into the court room, but as I followed her I felt my heart warming again, and my confidence coming back, they had reminded me that even if my fate did bring me to that hallway, I wouldn't be there alone.

To say the next hour was horrible would be an understatement. I have never felt as powerless and heart broken as I did that day. Watching the faces of so many innocents be brought forward, and sentenced to a life of darkness and despair for something they could not help. People just like me… I wanted to scream, to cry, but I couldn't. After sometime they brought in Mary Cattermole, once again my heart ached as they asked her about her husband and she cried that he hadn't met her. They asked her about her children and she begged to be allowed to go home to them. The Death Eater Yaxley spat at her that, the brats of Mudbloods did not stir their sympathies. I looked down at my hands and closed my eyes, _the brats of Mudbloods_…. And image swam to my eyes, a beautiful little girl with pale grey blue eyes and curly red hair, I didn't even know if she'd ever exist, but I knew I loved her…. Suddenly I was brought harshly back to reality by a disembodied voice which whispered in my ear, I jumped ferociously but luckily Umbridge and Yaxely were far to preoccupied to noticed. It was Harry, he's snuck into the courtroom under the cloak. I was now completely panicked, how in the world did Harry expect us to get out of here? Suddenly Umbridge leaned over the railing to say something severe to Mrs. Cattermole, and as she didn't I couldn't contain a squeak of excitement, the locket was hanging around her neck! Now we were really in it deep, how could we possibly steal the locket from around her neck and make it out of the Ministry without being caught? Suddenly Umbridge asked me for some documents, I jumped in shock and my hands trembled as I handed them to her. Then out of no where Harry stupefied her, and then Yaxely and chaos ensued. Harry ran to save Mrs. Cattermole from the dementors that were now attacking her, and screamed for me to get the locket. I grabbed it from Umbridge's neck, and began to make a fake to throw her off the track. Harry screamed for me to hurry and I explained what I was doing. I met up with Harry and Mrs. Cattermole, and Harry told me to make a Patronus so we could get past the dementors on the other side of the door. I tried hard to focus on Ron and say the spell but it didn't work. Harry gently and urgently encouraged me. Suddenly the face of the little red headed girl popped in my head, I thought it was worth a shot. I closed my eyes and focused hard on that little girl running into my arms, my heart filled with warmth as I said the incantation and a silver otter shot out of my wand. We charged down the corridor and took the lift to the Atrium, I saw the wizard that was Ron running towards us and was about to throw myself into his arms when Mrs. Cattermole beat me to it, it took me a second to remember that she thought this was her husband. I began to panic when we saw that people were sealing the fireplaces. We couldn't get trapped, I didn't want to think what would happen. Suddenly Harry yelled for them to stop, apparently he had figured out he was someone with influence, which he was now using, and to my relief they let us through to the fireplaces, but suddenly both the real Reg Cattermole and Yaxely came charging out of the lifts and there was a whole lot of shouting and confusion. In the chaos Ron grabbed Mrs. Cattermole, and dove into a fireplace and seconds later Harry grabbed me and did the same. When we got through Ron was wrestling with Mrs. Cattermole trying to explain to her that he wasn't her husband. Suddenly Yaxely appeared so I grabbed both Harry and Ron and tried to Apparate, unfortunately he caught my hair and held on I tried to kick him off but it was no use. When we landed on the front step of Grimauld Place he let go, so before he could blink I Apparated us again to the first place I could think of, the field where the Quidditch World cup had been held three years earlier.

We hit the ground hard, lights popped before my eyes but I struggled to sit up as quickly as possible. I felt my body go cold with fear as I looked at Ron who was lying next to me, he was covered in blood. It only took a second for me to realize what had happened, he had been splinched. It was my fault he was in this awful state. A second later Harry was beside me and I explained what had happened to him. I told him to quickly get me a bottle of dittany from my little bag, and asked him to open it because my hands were shaking so badly. Once I had healed Ron's wound as best I could I told Harry that I was fairly sure now that we had accidentally brought Yaxely to Grimauld Place the Fidelus Charm was broken and the Death Eaters could get in. I felt like crying, I felt so guilty but Harry re-assured me that it wasn't my fault and I had done well in saving all of our lives. As I was explaining to Harry where we were Ron began to wake up, I felt relief wash through me. We made the decision to stay where we were for the moment because Ron still looked very pale and weak. I went about putting protective charms around the area while Harry got the tent out. We set it up and then Harry and I helped Ron inside. I made us all some hot tea and we finally began to discuss what had just happened. Ron was beside himself with worry that the Cattermole's might not have made it out safely, as I watched him I was surprise to feel tears welling up inside me, they were not tears of sadness or pain, or even happiness just deep emotion. Seeing him lying on the ground covered in blood made me think for the slightest moment about what it would be like to truly lose him, and that made me appreciate just how desperately I needed him in my life. He was my whole world. Suddenly Harry addressed me and I jumped, I had completely forgotten that he was sitting on my other side. He had asked if I had it, and before I could register what he was talking about I asked him, "Got what?" he rolled his eyes and asked if I had got the one thing we had gone through all that trouble for. Ron sat up excitedly and asked in disbelief if we had really gotten it. I said in a slightly hurt tone that of course we gotten it that's what we were there for. And I pulled it out and handed it to him, it was as big as a chicken's egg, and I might have imagined it but it felt somehow heavier than it's should have proportionally. I handed it first to Ron and then to Harry, and Harry pointed out that before we could figure out how to destroy it, we needed to figure out how to open it. We each tried our best but couldn't even put a scratch on it, so in the end we resigned to keeping it safe until we could destroy it, Harry suggested he and I take turns on watch just in case and he slipped out the front of the tent to take the first shift. When he had gone outside I fell to my knees next to Ron, who was lying on the bottom bunk of a pair of bunk beds. I kissed his head slowly letting my lips rest against his skin and then I put my hand on the side of his face and looked into his eyes.

"Blimey 'Mione if I knew it would get me this kind of attention I get myself Splinched more often." Said Ron with a feeble smile.

"Stop it Ron… that's not funny…" I said softly.

"Hey…" he said realizing how upset I was, "I'm fine… really just a little weak, I've survived much worse than that Hermione."

"I know… I just… I can't lose you Ron." I replied looking desperately into his face.

"You're not going to. I'm never going to leave you Hermione… that's a promise." He said, and he kissed my hand.

"I know…now get some rest you need it." I said to him, and he smiled at me before lying back and closing his eyes.

Harry and I spent the rest of the day taking turns on watch. By evening we were all getting very hungry. The only thing I could find for us to eat was some wild mushrooms, and with nothing to cook them in I was resigned to frying them in a can until they were the consistency of rubber. I knew they were horrible, and Ron only managed a few bites. I felt really bad for both him and Harry but I was doing the best that I could. Harry took his second watch and I went to sit with Ron again. He looked up at me and smiled, he teased me that if that was the extent of my cooking skills he might have to reconsider our relationship so he wouldn't starve for the rest of his life. I shot him a withering glare and slapped his arm but he chuckled and told me that he was just teasing. He pulled me down to sit on the bed next to him and slipped his hand in mine.

"What do you think my family is doing right now?" said Ron softly.

"Oh your Mum is probably cleaning up from dinner, and your Dad is probably in the living room tinkering with some Muggle contraption and annoying her… No doubt the twins are closing up shop for the night and planning their newest bit of mischief. Bill and Fleur are probably cosied up in front of a fire… and Ginny… well to be honest I'd reckon Ginny's probably sitting in the Gryffindor Common Room wondering what we're doing right now."

Ron shifted his weight and put his head in my lap, and I instinctively began running my hands through his hair.

"How is it that it feels like a lifetime ago that we were in that Common Room…" he said.

"I expect that's how it works when you're on the run…" I said quietly.

Suddenly Harry was screaming, I jumped up and ran outside. He was lying on the ground panting. He tried to pass it off as a dream but I knew it was his scar, and I was furious. I told him he had to try to use Occlumency but he brushed me off and tried to tell me what had happened in the dream. I cut him off and told him coldly that if he was so tired he was falling asleep on watch then he should go to bed, then I sat down and promptly ignored him. He glared at me but then stormed in the tent. I could hear him whispering to Ron and I knew he was telling him about the vision. I was livid with him, I couldn't explain why but I knew those visions were a bad sign, but unfortunately there was nothing I could do.

The next morning we decided to move on. Harry and I had decided that staying in one place for too long was a very bad idea. We Apparated to the woods on the edge of a small town and I went right back to setting up all the enchantments around our tent. Harry went into town to get food and when he came back empty handed we asked him what was wrong. He said that there had been dementors and he couldn't produce a Patronus. I saw from the look on his face that something was very wrong, Harry had never had any trouble with his Patronus. Ron began to gripe that we still didn't have food but I told him to shut up, it was so like him to think of his stomach and ignore that there was something wrong with Harry. I gently asked him what had gone wrong, he had produced a Patronus fine the day before. He told me in a small voice that he didn't know. He looked so humiliated and sad. Ron kicked a table and snapped that he was hungry and still weak form his injuries. Harry snapped back that he could go fight his way through a hundred dementors. Ron said he would but he was injured. Harry accused him of using it as an excuse and Ron was about to counter when suddenly it hit me. I demanded Harry give me the locket, he looked confused but he did. The minute he took it off his face gained more color and he looked surer on his feet. I quickly and carefully asked him if he thought he'd been possessed and he thought about it but said no. He explained that Ginny had told him when she'd been possessed by the diary she had lapses in memory, and he remembered everything he'd done since he put it on. I suggested that maybe we shouldn't wear it, but Harry flatly refused saying he wouldn't let something so valuable just lie around. So in the end we decided to take turns wearing it, so it wouldn't affect any one of us too much. After a bit we decided to move again and we relocated to the far edge of a farm, and by that evening we were eating scrambled eggs and toast. The next few weeks seemed utterly miserable, the lack of food coupled with the wearing of the locket which seemed to give it's wearer deep bouts of depression and anger that were unrelated to their present feelings, were making the entire situation seem hopeless. Though neither Harry nor I were taking it near as hard as Ron, he seemed to become progressively gloomier as time went on. I knew that Harry was beginning to feel that Ron was simply expecting Harry and I to come with all the ideas and that it was annoying him, but at the same time I saw Ron's side of things. Ron had always felt as though Harry and I never really needed him, and as time went on I could see that he was beginning to question why he had even come along in the first place. I felt horribly bad for him, but I didn't know how to help him. The other frustrating aspect was that we had no leads on where we needed to go. We searched the area where Voldemort's orphanage used to be but there was nothing. We went over places again and again in our minds but none of them seemed to make sense. To make matters worse Harry was becoming more and more secluded and we knew he was having more visions. Ron and I were not sure how to help him, and spent the majority of our time having whispered conversations, about how in the world we were going to get him to open up to us, because at the time we felt like our mission couldn't go anywhere until he worked with us. A few weeks later while we were camped on the bank of a river we got some unexpected news. A group of travelers camped right beside us. Thanks to my charms they were unaware of our presence, but they unknowingly gave us some very interesting news. There were three wizards on the run and a group goblins. From their conversation we gathered that three Hogwarts students had tried to steal the sword of Gryffindor, one of them being Ginny. I looked up at Harry quickly and saw the fear on his face. The goblins went on to say that the Death Eater's had put the sword in Gringotts for safe keeping, but the most interesting piece of news, was that the goblins recognized the sword as a fake! Which meant the real one was still out there somewhere. We all ran back inside and I had a stroke of brilliance. If someone had indeed stolen the sword, Phineas Nigellus would have seen it because his picture hung right next to it. I pulled the painting out and tentatively called for him, as soon as he walked into the frame I blindfolded him, and after a few moments of vehement protesting he agreed to answer our questions. Harry of course immediately asked what punishment had been given to those who tried to steal the sword and we were both relieved to hear that their only punishment was to go with Hagrid into the Forbidden Forest. We asked him about the sword and we were overjoyed to find out that the last person to remove it was Dumbledore! We were certain that he must have hidden it for us, and put a fake in it's place, but now we had yet another puzzle to solve. Harry and I began talking excitedly trying to come up with where it might be, after a few minutes Harry turned to ask Ron's opinion and we realized he wasn't there. We looked over and saw him lying on his bunk, his face looked like it had been carved out of stone. I had a sinking feeling in the pit of my stomach, because I had a sneaking suspicion that I knew where this was going. My fears were confirmed when he stood up and spat at us that we'd finally noticed he was there. Harry snapped at him that if he had a problem he'd better spit it out. As I heard the rain begin to fall on the tent everything the two of them had been bottling up poured out. Ron told Harry he was sick of sitting around with no clue what we were doing, of starving and having no plan. Harry yelled back that he thought Ron had known what he was signing up for, and if he wanted five star hotels and to be a hero he should go somewhere else. The fight turned to Ginny and Ron accused Harry of not caring about her safety. Finally Harry screamed at him that if he really wanted to leave he should just go, and to my horror Ron pulled his wand. I reacted quickly and put a shield between them, unfortunately I was on Harry's side of it. Harry coldly told him to leave the Horcrux, which was still around his neck. He wrenched it off and threw it on a chair and then turned to me. He asked me what I was doing, and I was totally bewildered. He asked if I was staying and I felt the familiar burning in my heart, he was really going to leave. I told him yes I was staying, I promised Harry. He looked at me with such anger and he said in short clipped words that I chose Harry, and then he walked out. I ran to follow him but I had to stop to take down my shield, by the time I got out the door I saw him turning on the spot and he disappeared. I screamed his name, I cried and cried. As hard as I had the previous year, he told me he wouldn't leave… he had promised. I walked numbly back into the tent and told Harry he was gone. Then I collapsed in a chair and sobbed. Harry didn't say anything he simply pulled the blankets off Ron's bed and threw them over me before climbing into his own. He had meant this to be a kind gesture but as I wrapped them around me I could smell Ron's scent and it was like a knife stabbing deeper into my heart, I cried until there were no tears left then I got up and moved to my bed on the other side of the tent. I changed into my pajama's and lay down. I felt like I was an Inferi, my insides were frozen, and felt as though all the warmth and happiness that was left in me had just Disapparated away into the darkness.

The next morning was cold, it felt like the cold had seeped through every part of me. As Harry and I packed I tried to go as slowly as possible. I knew that once we had left this spot, Ron would never be able to find us again, he would really truly be gone. I was hoping against hope that I might look up and see him walking towards us with a sheepish expression on his face saying he was sorry for being such a git. But by the time noon rolled around I knew that we had to leave, Harry took my hand and we Apparated to an empty hillside. As soon as we hit the ground I was overcome, I sunk onto a rock and let the sobs overtake me, I knew that he was really gone now, and there was no way for him to come back even if he wanted to. Harry began to silently put up the protective charms around us, and after a few moments I collected myself and helped him. The next few weeks were the worst weeks of my life, to this day I have not seen a darker time. The best way to describe it was that I was on autopilot, I walked and ate and talked but I didn't feel. Truth be told inside it seemed like I was really only half of a person, the only thing that kept me going was helping Harry with this mission, though in the back of my mind a thought had been growing. I didn't intend on making it out of this mission alive, this was now my purpose for going on, and I truly felt that once it was done, so was I. I never told Harry this of course, I knew he had enough to deal with, so I simply went on living as best I could manage. The days grew colder and soon Christmas lights could be seen. One night, after I had managed to knick us a fairly proper dinner from a supermarket under the Invisibility Cloak, Harry tentatively told me that he really wanted to go to Godric's Hollow. I told him I agreed and he looked shocked, I pointed out to him that it really seemed like the only place that Dumbledore would have hidden the sword. When he looked still confused I explained that Godric's Hollow was named for Godric Gryffindor. As I explained Harry smiled, it was a welcome sight, I had almost thought he'd forgotten how over the past few months. When I was talking about _Hogwarts a History_ Harry reminded me that Aunt Muriel had told him that Bathilda Bagshot was still alive and lived in Godric's Hollow. Suddenly my stomach did a flip as I breathlessly told Harry that Dumbledore must have given her the sword! He seemed hesitant at first, but then he agreed with me. He wanted to leave for the hollow the following day but I refused, I had a feeling that the Death Eater's would definitely be looking for him there. So I made sure we had hair from random Muggles for the Polyjuice potion, and that we were very confident in Apparating and Disapparating under Harry's Cloak. It was bitterly cold on the night that Harry and I Apparated onto the outskirts of town. The snow was thick and I was just about to work out how we would get rid of our prints when Harry said we should take off the Cloak, I was hesitant but he pointed out that we didn't even look like ourselves so it wasn't that big of a risk. As we walked through the town square we heard the sound of carol's coming from the church and I thought it was Christmas Eve. It was surreal that we could have actually forgotten such a holiday. I tried my hardest not to think about the Weasley's all sitting around the fire listening to Mrs. Weasley's favorite singer doing her Christmas special. I pointed out the graveyard behind the church to Harry. I took his hand as we walked towards it, I knew that this was going to be the first time that he ever saw his parents grave, and I wanted him to know I was there for him. We walked slowly into the graveyard and split up, looking for his parent's grave. We searched in the darkness for quite awhile finding many names that seemed familiar but in the end it was me who found them. Harry came and stood beside me, he was very quiet and after a few minutes I noticed that he was crying. I took his hand in mine and squeezed it tightly, and he returned the pressure. I realized in that moment that Harry was probably the one person in the world that kept me connected, I had always been an only child but I wagered that Harry was the closest thing to a brother that I would ever have, I would have done anything to keep him safe. He turned away from the grave and put his arm around my shoulders, I slipped mine around his waist and we walked together back out of the graveyard. Suddenly Harry stopped, I asked him what was wrong and he said that someone was watching us. I felt my heart constrict in fear and I pulled my wand. Harry reminded me that we looked like Muggles, but I reminded him that we had just been at his parent's grave. We looked in the direction Harry had seen the movement and saw a bit of snow fall off a tree. Harry said it was probably a cat or bird. He pointed out that if it had been a Death Eater we would have already been dead and I had to agree. All the same we were very keen to get out of there. We walked quickly out of the village in the opposite direction from which we had entered. I was beginning to panic as I asked Harry how we would find Bathilda's house but he wasn't paying attention, he was staring of into space. I pulled on his arm but he simply urged me to look in the same direction as him, I turned and realized what I was seeing. It was Harry's house, or his parents house. Harry reached out and gripped the gate, as he did a sign rose from the ground. It explained what had happened on the sight, and it seemed that people had carved and graffitied it with messages to Harry, I was annoyed that they had defiled it, but Harry was happy, he was half way through telling me this when he stopped. A tiny stooped figure was shuffling up the lane towards us. She looked up at the house and then to our surprise beckoned to us! I whispered furiously to Harry asking him how she could know we were there under the cloak, and he shook his head in bewilderment. After another moment of hesitance Harry spoke and asked her if she was Bathilda, the woman nodded and Harry and I looked at each other quickly. We were both very frightened but we knew we had to go forward so we began to follow her back down the road. She brought us into her house, it smelled horrid like old age and death, she brushed past me and went into the next room. I was just telling Harry that I wasn't quite sure, that it didn't feel right when I heard a strange hissing noise from the next room. I jumped but Harry assured me it was all right and he went in. Bathilda was lighting candles and after she had almost caught her sleeve on fire at least twice Harry took the matches from her and finished the job. Suddenly he picked up one of the pictures. He began emphatically asking Bathilda who the man in the picture was but she seemed confused. I asked him what he was doing and he said that the man in the picture had been the man in his visions. I managed to contain my exasperation and went back to trying to ask Bathilda why she had brought us to her house. She ignored me and pointed to Harry and then the stairs, but as we made to move she shook her head at me. Harry pointed out that apparently she didn't want me to come, this made me very wary but Harry said Dumbledore may have wanted the sword to be given only to him. I was very ill at ease but I acquiesced and they headed up the stairs. I stood for a few moments looking around the room suddenly there was a loud thump from upstairs. I ran to the foot of the stairs and called Harry's name tentatively, he didn't answer. I made my way up the stairs and was almost to the first room as a huge snake slithered out the door and attacked me. I sent a spell at it but it missed as I dived out of the way. I jumped up again and ran for the room, but the snake was between me and the door so I sent a stunning spell at it and it flew into the wall. The room was utter chaos as the snake thrashed and writhed around us. I screamed as Harry grabbed my arm and yanked me hard onto the bed I shouted another spell which bounced around the room exploding things as Harry grabbed me and took a running leap through the window. My scream mixed with his, I managed to twist our bodies as we fell and the last thing I saw before we Disapparated was a bone white face peering out the window it's blood red eyes full of fury. We landed on the ground outside the tent and I instantly knew something was wrong. Harry was writhing shouting random things that didn't make sense. The Horcrux wouldn't come off his chest, it was as if it was welded there. In the end I had to use a Severing Charm to get it loose. I used a Hover Charm to get him into his bed and then did my best clean the snake bite but he was still writhing and shouting. I sat with him until just before morning when he finally began to wake. I explained to him what had happened. He explained to me what had happened in that room, apparently the snake had taken over Bathilda's body, she was dead. The reason the snake wouldn't speak in front of me is because it was speaking to Harry in Parseltongue. I was horrified to think of a snake being in someone's body. Harry asked me about his wand and my heart constricted. I held up his wand to him, it was broken in two. He gasped for me to fix it, and I told him I didn't think I could but he insisted. I tried, but as soon as I had mended it and he tried to use it, it broke again. I felt so horrible, I wished there was something I could do. The worst part of it was that he spoke to me in a flat monotone, I wished he would just scream at me for letting it break, it would have been easier than his cold indifference. In the morning I woke up feeling completely empty, all I had left was Harry and now he was angry with me as well. I made us two cups of tea and took one to Harry, I decided to try a peace offering. While waiting for him the previous night I had found a copy of the horrid book Rita Skeeter had written about Dumbledore, and I noticed that the man Harry was questioning Bathilda about was on the cover with Dumbldore, so I snagged the book. I now offered it to Harry and asked him in a small voice if he was still angry with me. He told me in a gentle way that he wasn't, he knew his wand breaking had been an accident, and he even managed a half hearted smile. Once I knew everything was put right between us I focused on looking at the book with him. What we found out in that book was something that still haunts me to this day in some ways. The wizard in the photo with Dumbledore had been none other than Grindewald, one of the most famous Dark Wizards next to Voldemort. It was widely known that Dumbledore had defeated him later in his life, but from what was written in the book it seemed that when they were young they had been very close friends, and what was worse still, excerpts from a letter written by Dumbledore to Grindewald, seemed to show that at one point Dumbledore seemed to hold the same dark and cruel philosophies as Grindewald and many of the Death Eaters. I could see in his face that Harry was taking this information very hard, I tried desperately to point out that the source was Rita Skeeter, and even if she hadn't put a spin on the information Dumbledore was young and he had obviously changed later in his life, but I realized this was the final straw and that Harry had broken. He yelled that he didn't know who Dumbledore was or who he had loved but it wasn't him. That he had left him in this mess without ever telling him the whole truth, and that he had been more honest with Grindewald than he had ever been with him. His voice trembled as he took my wand and said he would sit down to finish the watch. I wanted desperately to help but I knew there was nothing I could do. I walked quietly back into the tent, feeling the emptiness inside me more acutely than ever before. Life didn't seem real anymore, just a meaningless stream of dangerous situations and disappointments. I took my shift at midnight and as I sat in the bitter cold and darkness I felt as though my surroundings were ironically similar to what I felt inside dark cold nothingness that stretched on with no known end. I was relieved when Harry came out shortly later and suggested we pack up and move somewhere more sheltered. We Apparated to a small forest glade, and while it was still bitterly cold it was at least protected from the wind and snow. We set up camp again and spent the rest of the day there. I was still very worried about Harry who had obviously not completely recovered from the incident with the Horcurx. That night I offered to take the watch but Harry flatly refused, telling me I needed sleep. I had been taking more and more night watches because trying to sleep was becoming more and more difficult for me. Every time I closed my eyes the bone white face with it's red eyes swam before my minds eye, and my last thought before we Disapparated continued to haunt me. It was that of relief, I thought, "finally it's all going to be over." Of course we had lived, but in that moment I realized that there was a part of me, that thought death would probably be better than what we were enduring at the moment. As I dozed off that night I remember my last thought being the same one it had been every night for the past month, _why did you leave me? You promised…_

I awoke groggily because Harry was calling my name. I sat up and looked around at him. At first I was worried that something was wrong, but he seemed happier than I had seen him since our journey had begun. He told me nothing was wrong but that he had brought someone with him. I began to ask who it was but the words stuck in my throat as he came through the tent flap. It seemed as though everything was in slow motion. I had forgotten until that second just how beautiful Ron Weasley was. I moved towards him slowly unable to comprehend that it was really him. I stood right in front of him and looked up into his perfect face and suddenly everything came pouring out of me. I began to hit him as hard as I could, I couldn't believe he had left me, made me feel all those horrible things and I screamed those exact words at him. He tried to apologize but I yelled that I didn't want his apology. He tried to explain that he had wanted to come back the second he had left but he had been caught by Snatchers, which were basically the equivalent of bounty hunters and by the time he had gotten away we had moved on. I was still fuming so I sarcastically mocked him, saying all we'd done was go to Godric's Hollow almost get killed by a snake, and almost have a run in with You-know-who himself, but Ron was right his getting captured by Snatcher's and losing a few fingernails in a botched Disapparation was much worse. I really at that point had no interest in talking to him, but I was also curious so I gruffly asked him how he had found us that night and he told us that apparently Dumbledore's Dilluminator that he had given Ron also had the ability to help him find us if we said his name. I blushed remembering that the first time we'd said his name was when we'd been talking about Harry's wand on Christmas Eve and I was reminding him that when Ron's wand broke in half in was unreparable. The boys went on to tell me the story of how Harry had followed the silver doe into the woods. I told him it must have been a Patronus and he agree but said he didn't who sent it. He told me how he found the sword in a pool but when he tried to get it out the locket had almost drown him, and Ron had to save his life. They then told me that it was Ron who had destroyed the locket. I could tell from the way they said it that there was more to the story than they were telling me but I let it go because I was still very angry with Ron. Yet as they handed me the ruined Horcrux I couldn't help but feel a great swell of pride towards him as well. In the end we all decided it was time for bed, so the boys went into there side of the tent and I retreated to mine. Ron made a teasing comment about how at least I didn't sick birds on him this time, and I snapped that I hadn't ruled it out yet, but as I lay down I could already feel the warmth coming back into my heart.

It was about one in the morning and I still hadn't gotten to sleep. My initial fury with Ron was subsiding, and while I was still very angry I was also beginning to feel the waves of relief and comfort in knowing that he was back, and what was more knowing he had hated being away from me just as much as I had hated being away from him. Suddenly I heard movement and I looked up to see Ron sneaking towards my side of the tent. I realized one of the reasons it had seemed so quiet is that I had not heard Ron's deep snores. He must have not been able to sleep either. I sat up and glared at him and when he saw I was awake he cast a _muffliato _charm over us and sat down in front of me looking sheepishly.

"Are you ever going to forgive me?" he said meekly.

"What makes you think you deserve it?" I said severely, but even as I was speaking I noticed he was shivering so I pulled one of the blankets off my bed and wrapped it around him. He looked up at me with such a soft vulnerable expression, and I felt my heart melting in spite of myself.

"Hermione…. When I realized I couldn't get back…it was the worst feeling I'd ever had. I didn't go back to the Burrow, I couldn't face Mum and Dad. I went to Bill and Fleur's. But 'Mione I couldn't eat, and I couldn't sleep, I didn't feel like a whole person anymore. One thing kept playing over and over in my mind, it haunted me… even in my dreams. Do you know what it was?"

"What." I said.

"The last glimpse I got of your face before I Disapparated. It was the same look you had last year when you saw me with Lavender. I had betrayed you… again. And I could barely live with myself knowing that, I've once again proved beyond a shadow of a doubt how much I don't deserve you…" Ron let his voice trail off and looked down at his hands, he sat there quietly for a very long time.

I was a jumble of emotions. Part of me wanted to wrap my arms around him and tell him I loved him and everything was forgiven. Yet everything wasn't magically forgiven, and another part of me refused to let him off that easy. I sat there in silence trying to decide what I wanted to say.

"You left me…." I said finally, it seemed like such an obvious statement but I felt like the only way I was going to work out my feelings was by saying them out loud.

"I know." He said, his voice was so tiny I barely heard it.

"You promised me you wouldn't leave…. You promised…" I felt tears coming to my eyes.

"I know Hermione…and you have to believe me I hated myself every second of everyday for breaking that promise." He looked desperately at me, "The one thing that this whole experience has taught me is that I never want to be away from you again. You are my whole world Hermione, I'm nothing without you."

"Oh Ron…"I muttered, it was all I could come up with in that moment. I loved him so much, and I knew in my heart he was already forgiven, but I was determined to make him understand that he wasn't going to just get away with doing things like that.

"Ron you know I could never be without you… you're my whole world too. But that doesn't mean I'm just going to forget what happened. You're not off the hook just yet."

He looked at me somberly, and nodded his head.

"So until I say otherwise Ronald Weasley you are officially, in the doghouse, as my Mum always used to say." I gave him a reluctant smile which he returned.

"My Mum always called it banished to the broom cupboard, whenever Dad did things to really set her off…" said Ron still smiling.

"Well then consider yourself banished to the broom cupboard." I said still trying to sound reproachful, but I knew my voice had softened. I reached out my hand and he took it immediately and kissed it firmly. He pressed it to his face and closed his eyes tight, my heart skipped a beat as I realized how desperately he must have missed me. As if reading my thought he spoke.

"I missed you so much 'Mione…" he whispered.

"Good."I said, with a smirk, "now go to bed."

"Ok…." He said with a small smile, and he walked back towards his bed.

I rolled over with my back to where he and Harry slept and for the first time in a very long time, I felt happiness.

Over the next few days I was admittedly very sore at Ron. I decided the best way to deal with him was to ignore him a much as possible. It was the best punishment I could think of, and after a little while I realized it came with the added benefit that Ron was being more attentive and thoughtful than I had probably ever seen him be. At the same time I was hatching an idea in my mind and after a couple days of pondering I decided to run it by Harry. I wanted to visit Xenophilius Lovegood. He was Luna's father, and the reason that I wanted to see him had to do with a particular symbol. Harry and I had first noticed it scribbled on one of the pages of the Tales of Beedle and the Bard, and then I had noticed it again in the book on Dumbledore, it seemed that when Dumbledore was young he had used it in his signature in place of the A. This also reminded me of something Harry had told me about the wedding. Xenophilius Lovegood had been wearing that symbol as a medallion, and it had apparently made Viktor very angry because it turned out it was also Grindelwald's symbol when he was at the height of his power. I felt as though the symbol popping up that many times could not be mere coincidence, and the only person who could help us understand what it was, was Xenophilius Lovegood. I told this plan to the boys and Ron was of course on board immediately, though I knew he was only doing it to get back in my good graces. Harry was worried about another incident like Godric's Hollow, but Ron pointed out that Lovegood was on our side, he had been speaking out in favor of Harry in his newspaper ever since we had been on the run. In the end Ron decided we would put it to a vote, and I could barely contain a smile as he shot his hand up in favor of the idea even faster than mine did. He was quite determined to win my favor back.

We put our plan into action the next day. It was strange to be so close to the Burrow and not be going there. I missed it with it's chaos and clutter it had really become like a second home to me. We marched into the hills beyond the Burrow and it took us a few hours to find Luna's house, if you could call it a house. It was more of a castle turret sticking out of the ground. As we walked through the yard full of odd plants I felt a surge of excitement, it would be good to see and old friend again. I warned Harry to take off his Invisibility Cloak, knowing that it was him that Mr. Lovegood would be most keen to help. We knocked on the door and within seconds Mr. Lovegood threw it open, but I was immediately concerned. He looked wild and terrified and it seemed to take him a moment to even realize who we were. Even after he had recognized us his welcome was less than friendly, for a second I thought he might not even let us in but then he begrudgingly shoed us into the house all the while muttering under his breath. The house was very odd and quirky, just like it's inhabitants. When we got to the second floor where it seemed the Quibbler was produced I couldn't contain my gasp of fright. Mr. Lovegood had a large grey horn on the wall that he claimed was from a Crumple-Horned Snorkack, but I pointed out that I knew it was an Erumpent Horn. Ron immediately edged away from it knowing like I did that Erumpent horns were notorious for exploding violently at the slightest touch. I tried to point this out, but Mr. Lovegood dismissed me and went back to asking Harry what we were doing there. Ron made his way over to me and we looked at each other in concern. I had the same feeling growing in me that I had in Godric's Hollow, something was not right. Mr. Lovegood was clearly afraid of something, and more than that where was Luna? I was sure she would have come bouncing in excited to see us by now. After a few more minutes I asked that very question and Mr. Lovegood said quickly she was down by the river fishing for Freshwater Plimpies, and he used fetching her as an excuse to go running out of the room. Ron griped that he was being a filthy hypocrite for being so hesitant to help Harry after he had used his newspaper as a soap box to encourage everyone in the wizarding world to do just that, and I agreed with him. Yet Harry pointed out that he was probably just concerned for Luna's safety. I watched as Harry stared wistfully out the window in direction I knew the Burrow was and I didn't have to wonder what he was thinking about. Spending the last month without Ron had given me a profound new prospective on how heart wrenching it must have been for Harry to have to be away from Ginny. It had also given me a new respect for him, knowing the strength it must have taken to push her away for her own safety. He turned away from the window and we began to examine the room. Harry had just begun examining a rather ridiculous looking head dress of some sort when Mr. Lovegood came back up the stairs. He saw what Harry was looking at and proudly proclaimed it was his newest invention. It was something to do with removing Wrackspurts, no doubt another strange creature no one else had ever heard of. He offered us each a cup of some strange looking purple liquid and then we got down to business. He asked us what he could help us with and we told him about the sign, he told us it was the sign of the Deathly Hallows. We asked him what exactly those were and he asked us if we had ever heard the Tale of the Three Brothers. Ron and I said yes immediately, I knew the story because it was in the Tales of Beedle and the Bard, it was the exact story where I had noticed that sign. Mr. Lovegood asked me to read the story so I did.

This is a very abridged version of that tale;

_There were three brothers walking along a road at twilight, when they came to a river that was to wide and deep for them to cross, but they were magical so they made a bridge and crossed safely. Death came to them and was angry he had been cheated of their lives but he was cunning so he pretended to congratulate them on besting him, and offered them as a reward anything they asked for. The oldest brother asked for a wand that was more powerful than any other wand in existence. The middle brother asked for a stone that would bring others back from Death. Yet the youngest brother was wise, and he did not trust Death so he asked something that would allow him to go forth and not be followed by Death, so Death reluctantly handed over his own Cloak of Invisibility. The first brother took his wand into many duels and won, but after some time because of his boasting about its power, someone stole it from him while he slept and slit his throat, and Death claimed him. The second brother used the stone to bring back his lost love who had died but with time he realized she was sad and depressed because she did not belong to this world any longer, so he decided to kill himself to be with her properly because he could no longer stand the pain, and Death claimed the second brother. Yet the third brother lived a long and full life and only when he was an old man, and ready to die did he remove the Cloak, and Death greeted him as an old friend and they departed together gladly. _

After I had finished the tale Mr. Lovegood went on to explain that the Deathly Hallows was the combination of these three items, the elder wand of power, the resurrection stone, and Death's Cloak of Invisibility. When combined they were supposed to bring the bearer the power to conquer Death. I looked at him incredulously as I realized that he actually thought this story was true. He scoffed at me and told me that Luna had warned him I was narrowed minded. I was slightly annoyed but I was used to people saying such things to me. I started to gently point out that we all knew things such as Invisibility Cloaks exist, and I was about to go on and say that Resurrection Stone and Elder wands were fairy tales, when he cut me off. He said that Death's Cloak of Invisibility would be unlike any cloak known to man. It was a cloak that rendered a person completely Invisible and would never fade, and could withstand any spell that might be cast to make it reveal its wearer. My heart skipped a beat as Harry, Ron, and I met each others eye. We all knew that we had huddled together under a cloak exactly as the one he was describing more times than we could count. My heart was beating slightly faster as I acquiesced to him that the cloak could exist but I moved on to the stone, pointing out that the idea of a Stone that could bring people back from the dead was completely ridiculous. His retort was that I couldn't prove it didn't exist. I threw my hands in the air completely exasperated and said that was insane, that you could just go around believing every wild tale was real if the only proof you needed to validate it was inability to prove it's non-existence! Somehow he seemed to think I was agreeing with him, and that he had won the argument. Harry quickly changed the subject to the Elder wand in hopes of quelling an argument. Mr. Lovegood quickly pointed out that this was the easiest to trace through history due to the bloody path of duels it left as it changed hands. I was still very skeptical but I kept my mouth shut. They continued talking but suddenly I remembered something so I chimed in. I asked Mr. Lovegood if the Peverell family had anything to do with the Deathly Hallows. He looked at me with admiration as he explained that the three Peverell brothers Antioch, Cadmus, and Ignotus were rumored to be none other than the three brothers of the story. Ron asked me how I had come up with that name and I explained that I had seen it on one of the graves in the graveyard where Harry's parent's were buried, along with the symbol. Mr. Lovegood quickly changed the subject and invited us to stay for dinner so we could see Luna, he then went down to the kitchen to begin preparing it. Harry asked both Ron and I what we thought of the story, I told him that it was a pile of rubbish, and Ron agreed saying it was simply a fairy tale, and Lovegood was batty to believe it. I told him I agreed with him, and then went on to say it was obvious which gift you were supposed to pick. To my surprise we all spoke and I (of course) said, "the cloak", Harry said, "the stone" and Ron said, "the wand". We all looked at each other with slightly amused faces. I had a feeling I knew why Harry would choose the stone, so I didn't press it, but I was curious why Ron chose the wand, so I asked. He said that Invisibility Cloaks were all well and good, but if you had an unbeatable wand it was a moot point. I pointed out that the whole moral of the story is that power like that attracts trouble, but he said it only attracted trouble if you went about publicizing it. He had a point, but I also wondered aloud if it would really be possible to keep a thing that powerful a secret. I pointed out that of all the things Lovegood had said, the one true thing was that throughout history there _were_ tales of a Deathstick, or Wand of Destiny that could win any duel, but we all agreed that the idea of an Elder wand made my Death was still a bit too far fetched. Ron changed the subject and asked Harry why he'd choose the Stone and as I'd expected Harry talked of bringing back Dumbledore, Sirius, his parents…. I felt so bad for him, it seemed like almost everyone he loved was already gone. I could understand why the stone would hold so much appeal. He quietly asked me if I thought it could exist and I gently told him no. Stones couldn't bring people back from the dead. To my relief Ron changed the subject again and pointed out how until Lovegood had mentioned it he had never realized how unique Harry's Invisibility Cloak was, and that none of us could deny that it was, in a word, perfect. I told him I agreed with him on that, but that it didn't make it Death's Cloak, and even if it existed the stone didn't. He and I began bickering softly back and forth. I almost smiled in spite of myself, even thought we were bickering, Ron and I felt like our old selves again. Things almost seemed semi normal for a few moments. Suddenly out of the corner of my eye I saw Harry climbing the stairs to the next level, I called to him that he really shouldn't be looking around when Mr. Lovegood wasn't there but he ignored me. A minute or so later Harry came quickly down the stairs looking afraid, I asked him what was wrong but he walked directly over to Mr. Lovegood who had just come up from the kitchen and asked him very directly where Luna was. I felt the familiar swoop in my stomach; it was obvious that something was very wrong. Mr. Lovegood tried to say again that Luna was at the river, but Harry pointed out that he had only made the tray up for four people. My heart began to pound as Harry said that Luna's room looked like it hadn't been slept in for weeks at least, and he asked Mr. Lovegood why he kept looking out the window. In a flash Lovegood dropped the tray but we were too quick for him, we all had our wands out before he even got his hand in his pocket. Just then the printing press in the corner spilled copies of the Quibbler all over the floor and I picked one up curiously. Harry's face was plastered to the front with the title, _Undesirable Number One_, the name the Death Eaters had given him. Then it all came out, Lovegood said the Death Eaters had taken Luna and that he was hoping they might give her back, if he gave them Harry. Ron and I stepped in front of him to protect him and Ron said in a deadly voice for Lovegood to get out of the way and let us leave. Harry was just about to tell him that we would hurt him to get out if we had to when I saw shadowy figures flying in on brooms and I yelled to both boys. Harry threw himself at Ron and I, knocking us out of the way of Lovegood's Stunning Spell, but the misdirected spell hit the Erumpent horn instead. The following explosion was like nothing I had ever experienced I came to seconds later and found myself wedged under a bit of the printing press. I heard Lovegood down stairs arguing with the Death Eaters who seemed to think he had tricked them to try and hurt them in a booby trap. For a second I thought we were off the hook, until one of them did a spell that revealed there were other humans in the upper level. Now we were really in it thick, I had to think quickly. I knew if the Death Eaters didn't see that Harry was there, they would most likely do something horrible to Luna to make Mr. Lovegood pay for deceiving them. I quickly crawled out of the debris and Harry and I worked on freeing Ron who was stuck under a dresser, by the time we had gotten him out I had a plan. I looked at them both and asked them if they trusted me. They said yes, so I told Ron to put on Harry's Invisibility Cloak, and grab my shoulder and then I took Harry's hand. I blew a hole in the floor and the three of us fell through. I waited for the dust to clear just enough for the Death Eaters to see us slightly and then turned on the spot with all my might pulling us into the crushing darkness.

We landed on the edge of a field, and I immediately began setting up the enchantments. I explained to the boys why I had let the Death Eaters see Harry, and Ron asked me why I had covered him with the Cloak. I pointed out that he was supposed to be at the Burrow dying of Spattergoit, and the Death Eaters had just proven they had no problems taking the family of subversives. Ron quickly asked about my parents but I assured him they should be safe in Australia. He looked at me in awe and called me a genius, and Harry quickly reiterated his sentiments. I felt myself blushing as I smiled but then I remembered Luna and my heart sunk like a rock. Ron said she was probably in Azkaban, and we all felt horrible but Harry pointed out that Luna was tough, and with a small grim smile he teased she was probably teaching the inmates about Wrackspurts and Nargles. That night our damp old tent never felt more like home, Ron made us all tea and we sat around discussing what had happened that day. To my surprise both boys seemed far too keen on believing that the Deathly Hallows were real. They started coming up with all the useful things we could do with any of the three, well two technically because we had at least the equivalent of the third already. The more I tried to point out that it wasn't real, the more they ignored me. I was especially concerned for Harry, there was something in his eye that was distinctly unsettling to me, I didn't think getting hung up on the Deathly Hallows was going to be good for him at all. In the end he changed the subject to the Peverell family and I gratefully told him that they were one of the Wizarding families who were now extinct in the male line, meaning the name had died out. Suddenly Harry perked up and told us that Marvolo Gaunt, Voldemort's grandfather, had been a descendent of the Peverell's, Harry had seen him boasting about it in Dumbledore's Pensive. He had had a ring with a large stone that had the Peverell coat of arms, which Harry said might have been the same sign, but he couldn't quite remember. Suddenly the words, _a large stone_, sunk in for both boys and their faces filled with excitement. Harry pointed out that Dumbledore had had the ring, and he had cracked it in half because it was a Horcrux and had to be destroyed. Before I knew it Ron was actually asking if Harry thought the Resurrection Stone would still work if it was broken in half. I stopped them right there, I told them there was no such thing as a Resurrection Stone and that Harry was trying to make things fit together that didn't. He retorted that they did fit on their own and then went back to talking with Ron. I began to get frightened, Harry had a look in his eye that I had never seen a half crazed gleam of something that seemed very unpleasant. I tentatively said his name but he ignored me, he began pacing. Suddenly he gasped that Dumbledore had borrowed his father Invisibility Cloak before his parents had died, he muttered something about studying it. I said his name again, but he simply shoved the letter Dumbledore had given him first year into my hands and continued pacing. Ron stood beside me now and looked at me in concern. Suddenly Harry's face lit up again and he said that Voldemort was looking for the Elder wand, then he continued pacing. I looked at Ron in real concern and he looked back just as worried. Suddenly Harry turned back to us and proclaimed that this was his new mission he knew it, that he had one (possibly two of the Deathly Hallows) recognition dawned on his face yet again as he said that Dumbledore must have put the ring in the Snitch. Finally I grabbed him determined to talk some sense into him, I told him that he was getting carried away and making connections that weren't there. That Dumbledore wanted him to go after Horcruxes, not chase down fairy tales. He seemed so determined I was terrified I would never get through to him, I looked desperately to Ron for help, for him to back me up. Harry also looked at him, no doubt hoping for validation. Ron looked back at both of us uncomfortably. He consented that pieces of it fit together and I felt frustration rising inside me, but then he told Harry that he thought we were supposed to look for Horcruxes, and that he should forget about the Hallows. Harry looked severely disappointed but I could have run across the room and kissed him. I told him thank you and then promptly said I'd take the first watch. I sat outside the tent with such a mixture of feelings inside me. I was so angry at Harry, I felt like he was constantly making things harder on himself and everyone around him. At the same time there was a very deep warm burning feeling in my heart that I had never felt before towards Ron, he had stepped up that night. He had stood beside me when I needed him, he had been strong, the man that I needed him to be. Just as I was thinking these things I felt the tent open behind me, and Ron's hand on my shoulder. Suddenly I had a random impulsive burst and in one swift motion I grabbed his hand, stood up and pulled him into the shadow of a large tree that was next to the tent. I saw and hint of surprise and shock in his face as I did so but then I threw my arms around his neck and pulled him to me. It was not a kind of hug I had ever given before, I wanted him, wanted to touch him, to hold him. I entwined my fingers through his hair and nuzzled the side of his neck. His breathing quickened as he put one hand on the small of my back and the other in my hair, and he pulled our bodies ever closer together. He ran his fingertips from my jaw line all the way down my neck to my collar bone, I held my breath as he slowly leaned down and gently began to kiss my neck. I curled my toes as a warm tingly feeling like electricity began to spread through my body. I breathed his name and then using all my self control I pulled away.

"Let's slow down a bit." I whispered in his ear.

"Ok…" he said with a smile, and we sat back down in the entrance of the tent.

"So not that I'm complaining." Said Ron with grin, "but what in the world brought that on?"

I sat down in his lap and leaned back against his chest and sighed as he slipped his arms around me.

"I guess with everything that happened today… it just sunk in how happy I am to have you back." I said quietly, as to not wake Harry.

"So does that mean I'm forgiven?" Ron whispered in my ear and as he did he slowly kissed my ear lobe.

I bit my lip and closed my eyes. All the desires running through my mind were new and strange, but also exciting.

"Yes you're forgiven." I said softly.

"Well thank goodness for that." Said Ron with a chuckle, and we went back to keeping watch.

The next few months were strange to say the least. Ron and I were both terribly worried about Harry. He was becoming more and more reclusive and what was worse he seemed to have completely given up on looking for Horcruxes. He would join in our conversations but only enough to keep us off his back and he was becoming more and more surly and unreasonable. I felt as though he didn't care at all anymore and it made me furious wit him. At the same time Ron had decided to step into Harry's shoes and take up the role of leader, and while he was a bit more bumbling than Harry and had a tendency act before really thinking, I had never been more proud of him. It felt as though Ron and I were now the team that was actively looking for Horcruxes and Harry was the grumpy tag along. As surreal as it seemed I felt as though Ron and I were finally getting the honeymoon stage of our relationship that we had never had before, I was aware that none of the darkness or danger had lifted, but somehow having Ron beside me as not only the man I loved but my partner, was more than I could have ever hoped for.

March first dawned bright and chilly, but there was a hint of spring already touching the edges of the breeze. We had camped on the outskirts of a small fishing village that night, we were thinking of re-checking the cave in which Harry and Dumbledore had found the locket. I got out of bed just before dawn and looked over to where Ron was snoring loudly. I wrapped a jacket around me, and snuck out the tent entrance. Harry was sitting on the ground and he seemed to be carefully studying his Marauder's Map. I cleared my throat and he looked up at me, I asked him if I could borrow his Cloak to run into town and he handed it to me without barely looking up. I walked into town and managed to steal a loaf of bread, six eggs and a bunch of kippers. I put some money on a window ledge, I still felt bad about stealing, and then I hurried back up to where I knew our tent to be. I cooked everything as quietly as possible, and was very pleased when by eight o'clock I had a proper breakfast cooked up and on a tray which I brought inside the tent. Ron yawned and stretched, I suspected the smell of food had woken him.

"What's all this?" he said looking at the food and grinning as I brought him the tray, "breakfast in bed? What did I do to deserve that?" he hungrily took a bite of the toast.

"Do you honestly not know?" I said with a laugh, "It's March first…." I leaned over and ruffled his hair as I kissed him on top of the head. "Happy Birthday Ron Weasley." I said with a smile.

Ron looked up at me dumbfounded.

"I can't believe I forgot my eighteenth birthday!" said Ron in shock.

"Sorry I couldn't get you a better present." I said.

"Hermione do you know me at all? I good warm breakfast is the best present you could have ever given me!" Ron said with a grin, and I laughed in spite of myself.

A few days later we got a welcome surprise when Ron finally stumbled upon a radio station he'd been looking for ever since he got back. It was called _Potterwatch_ and it was run by Lee Jordan. We all crowded around the radio to hear what news there was of the outside world. First they reported the deaths, and we were horrified out find out that Ted Tonks, and Dirk Cresswell had been murdered. They were two of the men who we had heard talking on the river bank. We were relieved to hear that at least Dean Thomas, the other wizard on the bank, and one of the goblins, seemed to have escaped. They reported the deaths of several Muggles, and also the death of Bathilda Bagshot, but of course we already knew about that. They went on to encourage all wizards to do their best to put protective charms on the Muggles living around them, and then we heard a voice which we all knew to be Lupin. I was touched deeply and felt the tears coming to my eyes as Lupin told the world to never give up on Harry Potter that he was strong at that he had every faith that Harry would do what was needed. He then went on to say that if Harry was listening he should trust his instincts because they were nearly always right. I looked up at Harry and knew he was feeling the same thing I was. Ron took that moment in interject that Lupin was now living with Tonks again who was apparently getting to be very big and pregnant. We got a welcome lightened mood as a voice that we were fairly sure was Fred came over the radio and began to jovially tell people not to believe all the hyped up rumors flying around about Voldemort. We found ourselves all laughing together, and to me it seemed like nothing had ever felt so cathartic. They ended the show by saying for everyone to stand strong, and stand together. We turned off the radio and I was feeling better than I had in months. Then Harry went right back into his talk about the Hallows. He began point out that Fred had said Voldemort was abroad, which meant he was still looking for the wand. As he did Ron shouted for him not to say the name, but he ignored it. After he did Ron looked at him wildly and yelled that there was a trace on the name. They could find us now! We didn't even have time to panic before we heard a low cruel voice from outside the tent tell us to come out with our hands up.

I thought fast. I sent a spell at Harry's face, there was a loud bang and white light but I was relieved to see his face was already swollen beyond recognition. They came into the tent and grabbed us roughly Ron shouted for them to let me go and they bashed him in the face I saw his blood splatter across the grass and I screamed desperately at them not to hurt him. A horrible looking man grabbed me and told me he'd do much worse to Ron if he was on his list. He ran his hand over me talking about how soft I was and then looked at Ron as if daring him to try something. The fury in Ron was making him tremble but I looked at him and silently pleaded for him to stay calm. They hadn't seemed to recognize Harry thankfully, but as they threw Ron and Harry on the ground and began to ransack our tent I knew this was the end. Ron and I had been found out, his family was no longer safe, and all of our things were now in the hands of the enemy, we would not make it out of this alive. They asked our names, and Harry said Dudley Dursley, I knew this would be safe enough. Harry's Muggle cousin wasn't bound to be on any list. Ron gave them the name Stan Shunpike, but that was no good. Stan had been Impiriused so they new him. He quickly changed it to Barty Weasley. I knew using his own last name was a risk, and sure enough they kicked him hard and called him a blood traitor, but I knew that name wouldn't be on their list either. I gave them the first name I could come up with Penelope Clearwater, she was Ron's brother Percy's girlfriend. I don't know where I got her name from but I was fairly sure she wouldn't be on any lists. They drug us over with what seemed like another group that they had captured, we heard the familiar voice of Dean Thomas. I felt a small bit of hope as Dean told us they were Snatcher's just looking for some quick gold. By some sheer turn of unbelievable luck the bogus story Harry made up about Dudley Dursley seemed to check out on the surface I thought we might actually be let go. Then they found the sword, I knew as soon as that sword was found there was no way we would be let go. Then someone pulled out a copy of the _Prophet_ and as fate would have it my picture was on the front, a fact that the horrible dark man pointed out to me with a leer. I gasped that it wasn't me, and I felt myself beginning to tremble all over. On my right I felt Ron's hand close awkwardly over mine, do to the ropes holding us, I squeezed it tight. I truly thought this might be our end. One of the Snatchers pointed out that I was supposed to have been traveling with Harry Potter, and to my horror one of the others pointed to the now stretched but still visible scar on Harry's head. I closed my eyes and took and deep breath, this was it. Now it was truly over. The dark man told them to get us up, that they were taking us to the Malfoy Manor, to You-know-who himself.

As we walked down the path towards the Manor house I was so overcome with fear I could barely put one foot in front of the other. I had no clue what we would endure on the other side of that door but I knew it would worse than I wanted to imagine. A woman who could only be Draco Malfoy's mother answered the door, the dark man told her he had caught Harry Potter but she looked very skeptical. She told him to bring us into the parlor, she said Draco was home on Easter holidays and if anyone would know Harry Potter he would. We were drug down a long hall into a large room. Draco and his father were there. They told Draco to come look at Harry and positively indentify him, but Draco seemed unsure or unwilling. Just then his mother recognized me and almost simultaneously his father recognized Ron. I was filled with terror, but Draco once again was hesitant to confirm even though this time I was sure he had recognized us. Just then none other than Bellatrix Lestrange walked in the room. Even in our horrible situation I saw Harry shaking in anger as he looked for the first time into the face of Sirius's murderer. When they explained the situation to her she was chomping at the bit to call Voldemort there, and show him that they had found his prize. She was just about to do so when she stopped, she had noticed the sword. I realized with a growing sense of dread, that it must have been her vault where they stored the fake sword, and judging by her reaction she though we'd stolen it. She ordered us to be taken to the cellar, while she thought of what to do, but then a horrible look came over her face, and she told them to leave me, and take the other two. Ron immediately begged her to keep him instead, but she ignored him. He was drug from the room and I remember meeting his desperate eyes. I truly thought it would be the last time I saw his face. Bellatrix grabbed me by my hair and through me to the middle of the room.

"Do you have any idea what I will make you endure Mudblood?" she sneered, "tell me how you stole my sword, and I might consider killing you quickly."

I trembled from head to toe. My body was tingling in anticipation of the pain I knew was coming, but my blood boiled with rage. I would not be weak or cowardly. I raised my hand and beckoned her to me, she came close.

"Aww… what is it precious?" she jeered, "yes that's right… betray them to save your miserable Mudblood hide, no one expects any better of you…"

Her face was inches from mine, I looked at her with all the hatred in the world and spat directly in her face. Her fist slammed into my jaw and I saw white lights pop before my eyes. I heard her scream the curse, and then the only screams I heard were my own. Pain… unlike anything I had ever felt, each bone felt like it was burning from the inside, each muscle like it was slowly being torn apart. I couldn't breathe, or think. Then like a light at the end of a long tunnel I heard it, my name being shouted desperately over and over again. _Ron…_ his face flashed before my eyes. The pain was suddenly gone and I lay panting on the floor looking up at Bellatrix.

"Did you really think you'd live happily ever after you stupid girl…" she whispered. "You and that filthy blood traitor would grow old together filling your hovel with disgusting half breeds. You make me sick the both of you. He's a disgrace to the name wizard, and you… well you're not worthy of the air you breathe…."

"Not to be rude…" I interrupted giving her a dry look, "but could we just get on with this…" I was surprised to hear the words come from my mouth, but as I stood, there was a new strength in me that I never even realized I had.

The pain came again, the feeling of skin being torn from bone and I screamed. Yet this time along with the pain was rage. I glared at my torturer my eyes full of hate as I screamed.

"You're nothing you little worm!" she screamed at me, "Give up now and die, it's the only thing left for you!" she pointed her wand at me with more intensity and the pain grew even worse. I collapsed again. I screamed at her that we found it, I hated myself for being weak but I couldn't take the pain. She eased up but screamed at me that I was lying, she demanded the truth and put the spell back on me. I screamed in agony, I wanted death, there was nothing to think of but the pain. And then once again, like my angel I heard his voice calling my name. I stopped screaming even through the pain. This infuriated Bellatrix, who grabbed me and threatened to run me through with a knife if I didn't tell her what else we took. I looked at her, and to this day, I have no clue how I had the strength to do what I did next, I laughed… right in her face. The pain was worse even still, worse than anything that could be described I heard myself screaming but it felt so far away, there was nothing I could do anymore. Suddenly she let up again. I lay panting on the floor but she pulled me to my feet. I swayed on the spot but got my balance, determined not to be weak.

"You have more strength in you than I would have thought Mudblood." She said softly, "pity you aren't a real witch…" the dark man kicked me and I fell hard on my knees and couldn't help but cry out.

As soon as I had yelled Ron was once again screaming for me.

"Such love…" sneered Bellatrix, "he would have happily endured this in your place, but no matter. I promise you Mudblood once you have died, I will make your love suffer in ways you can't even imagine."

Rage coursed through my veins and I used up all my energy and charged at her, I knew I would never even get close but I wanted to hurt her so badly. The force of the spell sent me flying I could hear myself screaming as I writhed in pain, but everything was going black. I knew it was the end I wondered what death was like, it didn't seem so bad… the pain was gone, I was warm, something soft wrapped around me. I could feel my body, I was lying on something. I couldn't be dead. Suddenly I felt sore all over as everything came rushing back. I let out a low groan and opened my eyes. I was in a small room and moonlight was trickling in from the window. I had no clue where I was the place was completely unfamiliar. Suddenly the door was opened and Fleur was standing in the doorway.

"'Ermionee!" she gasped, "oh you are awake! Thank zee heavens. We were so worried… here drink zees."

She handed me a cup of hot chocolate and as soon as I sipped it I felt the warmth returning to my body. I felt as though I had but through the wringer, and I'm sure I looked worse.

"Harry and Ron??" I gasped looking at her in concern.

"Eets fine, they are 'ere as well." She said gently.

Just then there was a loud thumping on the stairs that seemed to be outside the door and Ron was in the doorway. He stood there staring at me for a second and then he crossed the room in two large steps and swooped me into his arms. He hugged me fiercely simply repeating my name over and over again, I hugged him back tighter and tighter not caring that my bruises screamed in protest, I never wanted to let him go again. I began to cry out of happiness and sheer emotion, and when I pulled back I was touched to see he was crying as well. Out of the corner of my eye I saw Fleur quietly backing out the door and shutting it behind her.

"I thought I'd lost you…" he breathed, "I thought you were…"

"I'm not…" I said holding him close to me, "I'm not going anywhere."

He put a hand on each side of my face and pressed his forehead to mine.

"I'm never going to let anyone hurt you again Hermione Granger." He whispered, "I love you too damn much…"

I put my hand on the side of his face. I had thought I would never see him again, he had been the one thing that had kept me going in that house. My source of strength, to say he was my whole world didn't even seem strong enough. I felt my heart pounding as I tilted my head up and brought my lips to meet his.

"Wait.." he said pulling back to look into my eyes, "are you sure? I know you want it to be perfect."

"Ron… I thought I'd never see you again.. I'm not waiting one more second. It _is_ perfect, because you're perfect." I breathed, and I once again moved my lips to his. His lips were soft as I pressed mine against them. I had never felt anything more perfect in my entire life. He gently broke the kiss off and put his arms around me.

"Hermione I have to tell you something…" he said gravely.

"what is it?" I said.

"The way we escaped from that house…" he said slowly, "it was Dobby… he saved us."

"Oh where is he??" I gasped, "I have to thank him!"

"He died 'Mione… Bellatrix stabbed him."

"No…" I gasped, "Oh no…." the sobs began to well up inside me as I thought back on the sweet little elf. Ron held me as I cried. He told me after a few minutes that Harry was getting ready to bury him in the back yard. I told him I wanted to be there, at first he seemed hesitant to let me out of bed, but in the end he helped me up and took me down the stairs. I was very happy to see that apparently Luna, Dean, Mr. Olivander, and a goblin named Griphook had also been rescued. We had a sweet little funeral for Dobby, and then all of us except Harry went back inside. Bill was explaining to us how he had evacuated the Burrow, now that the Death Eater's knew Ron was with us, when Harry walked back in. As he sat down and re-hashed a lot of our previous conversation with Bill Ron put his arm around me and held me close. I was so relieved to see them both safe and sound that I simply leaned against him and felt emotional exhaustion overwhelm me.

That night I lay in my bed staring at the ceiling. It should have been easy to fall asleep. I was beyond tired and the combination of the soft waves crashing on the rocks outside my window and the soft spring breeze that ruffled the curtains was very soothing, but my brain refuse to stop running in circles. Dobby's death, Bellatrix, the Horcruxes, the Hallows… I sighed deeply. I felt old… so much older than my years, I felt as though everything I had been through over the past twenty four hours had aged me twenty four years, or perhaps it was the fact that I wasn't sure from day to day how long I would stay alive. Living in the ever present fear of death did tend to make one grow up rather quickly I supposed. Yet here at the Shell Cottage I was perfectly safe, so why couldn't I sleep. Suddenly, I was creeping down the hallway in my home, I heard my parents voices from the living room.

_But their must be some mistake… I mean Hermione can't be a-what did they call her again- a witch! She's so normal…_ my mother's voice said.

The white hot pain that had shot through my heart the first time I'd heard those words when I was eleven was back. I felt tears in my eyes, but this time instead of running back to my room and crying I moved forward. I peered around the doorway into the living room but as I did all the lights went out. I saw my mother standing with her back to me wearing her bathrobe. I was terrified but I approached her slowly. Trembling I reached out my hand, she whipped around and to my horror it was not my mother but Bellatrix Lestrange, the bathrobe had turned into swirling black witches robes and she cackled at me.

_You have more strength in you than I thought you would Mudblood, _she said again advancing on me just as she had the night before, _pity you're not a real witch. _

She grabbed me and pointed her wand at my heart.

"No…" I moaned, trying to fight her, "NO…. No…."

"'Mione!" came an urgent whisper.

I opened my eyes and realized the arms holding me were Ron's. He looked down into my face with a very worried expression. I realized I must have dozed off after all.

"Ron…" I said breathlessly, "What are you doing here?"

"I just came up to check on you… and you were moaning and crying…" he looked anguished as he said this.

"I'm fine Ron…. Just a bad dream." I said gently.

"Yeah… I expected you'd be having those for awhile…" he said still looking wretched, he brushed my hair back from y neck to examine the small cut that had been left by Bellatrix's dagger. Apparently while I was unconscious she had threatened to slit my throat. As he brushed my hair back suddenly a look of deep pain and horror flashed on his face. He pulled a strand of my hair from behind my ear and held it up to the moonlight. It was white, I had noticed earlier and quickly covered it with my other hair knowing how much it would kill Harry and Ron to see it.

"Oh my god 'Mione…" said Ron looking at my hair, and his voice broke I saw tears welling up in his eyes.

"Ron!" I gasped and I wrapped my arms tightly around him, he shook slightly as I held him, "Ron it's not your fault…" I whispered over and over rubbing his back.

"Why couldn't it have been me…." He said softly a moment later, he pulled away and looked out the window, a hard look coming across his face, "if I ever run into that fowl loathsome (he added a few expletives and for once I quite agreed) I will make her wish he had never breathed her first breath."

"hey…" I said, "not that I don't agree with your sentiment. But you and I are both still very much alive, and in one piece which is far more than I could have ever hoped for when we were in that house… so can we please focus on the good?" I slipped my hand into his.

"You're right 'Mione." said Ron squeezing my hand and kissing my forehead.

"Now you'd best get to bed… I'm sure you're dead tired…" I said smiling tenderly at him. To my surprise, at my words Ron turned a terrific shade of red, which I could see even in the pale moonlit room.

"Well… umm… that's the other thing I came up here to tell you… well ask you rather! Because it's totally up to you… I wouldn't if you didn't want to…" Ron faltered looking terribly nervous.

"What are you talking about silly?" I said with a smirk.

"Bill caught up with me on the stairs…" he said still looking nervous and refusing to meet my eye, "He said he knows you've been through a lot over the past few days… so he told me I could sleep up here with you tonight. Provided we don't do anything dodgy, and we never breathe a word of it to Mum."

He was still looking uncomfortably at the floor but he shot a quick look at me for my reaction. When he did he sat up to look at me full on and he grinned. I was sure I was wearing an expression as if Christmas had just come early. I was so excited I could barely contain it. I quickly pulled back my covers and ushered hi m into my bed. I noticed he was wearing sweat pants and also a sweat shirt.

"Aren't you going to be a bit warm sleeping in that?" I said eyeing him.

"Well…. Usually I just sleep in the sweat pants…" his cheeks getting pink again, "but I figured… since I'm sleeping… you know…"

"Ronald… first off, did you really think I was going to mind?" I said giving him a mischievous smile, "and second off you're going to sweat to death if you wear that…"

Ron gave a sheepish grin and then pulled his sweatshirt over his head and tossed it on the floor. I couldn't help but admire his pale skin. He definitely had filled out and now had a lot of muscle. His arms were well toned and he a broad chest and flat stomach. I bit my lip without thinking about it as I admired him. He grinned and scooted into bed next to me.

"About done gawking?" he said with a teasing smile as he slipped his arms around me and pulled me close.

To this day I'm not exactly sure who initiated all I remember is that the next thing I knew I was kissing him. It was a long slow kiss my lips gently moving over his. I ran my hand across his bare chest and he sighed happily. We broke apart and lay there staring at each other. I had never wanted or needed him so desperately. I felt like he couldn't be close enough, like I couldn't hold him tight enough. I kissed the spot right over his heart and he sighed again. I cuddled myself tight against him and he wrapped his arms around me holding me there. I put my mouth right by his ear as I gently whispered.

"I'm really glad you're here…"

"Me too…" he said but his voice was low and soft, it came out almost as a purr.

I kissed his ear softly and noticed his hands tighten around my waist. He pulled me back and looked me in the eye.

"Hermione…" he said with a hint of sternness in voice, "I promised Bill we would behave ourselves if I stayed with you. Please don't make it so bloody difficult to keep that promise."

"I didn't know I had that power…" I said with what I'm sure was an evil smile. His only response was to glare at me in disbelief.

I kissed him. Just a soft peck on the lips, then another. I knew I was doing exactly what he'd asked me not to, and I knew it was horrible of me. Yet I really liked this new found power I had over Ron. I kissed his cheek, his jaw, and then I nuzzled the side of his neck and began kissing it softly. He was holding me very tightly and after a moment I realized he must have been holding his breath.

"Right then…. Bill can bugger off…" he said in almost a growl, and with a sudden movement he had flipped me and was over top of me. I was in such shock that for a moment I didn't know how to react, but then he buried his hands in my hair tilting my head slightly upward as he began to roughly kiss every inch of my neck from my ear to my collar bone. I gave a small gasp of surprise but the wrapped my arms around him and pulled our bodies tighter together. Feelings flew around inside me like mad Bludgers banging around in my brain. Very grown up feelings, things I had never even considered doing before were now at the forefront of my mind. Yet somewhere in the back of my mind, amidst the chaos a small voice was poking at me. _Don't get swept away Hermione, you're not ready yet… _I sighed in frustration knowing the voice was right and I softly pulled away.

"Wait." I panted, suddenly realizing with a slight blush how heavily we were both breathing and how fast my heart was pounding.

"what's wrong?" said Ron also out of breath.

"You're right… we shouldn't do this now… you made a promise to Bill." I said.

Ron groaned and flopped back onto the bed next to me.

"You're _killing_ me here Hermione…" he said exasperatedly.

I reached over a hand to comfort him and tell him I was sorry but he quickly brushed it away.

"Please don't… give me a minute." He said closing his eyes and taking a long deep breath.

I felt hurt. He was angry with me because I didn't want to.

"I'm sorry…. " I whispered, and I lay down and put my back to him. I was horrified to feel tears coming to my eyes, I was so emotionally on edge lately.

"Hey!" said Ron quickly as he sat up and rolled me over to face him, "Oh 'Mione please don't cry I'm not mad at you…. I just needed a moment to…*ahem* get calmed down… and you rubbing my shoulder would have made that difficult." He was a violent shade of red again.

"Oh…." I said feeling myself blush as well, "well umm… sorry about that I guess?" I said with a guilty smile.

"heh…" said Ron kissing my nose, "It's not like it was the first time you've had that effect on me…" said Ron with a smirk.

I sat up in bed and grinned back at him.

"Oh really? When exactly have I had that effect on you before?" I said.

"Truth?" said Ron who sat up to face me, we were sitting both cross legged on top of the covers grinning at each other. I was reminded of all the nights Ron, Harry, and I stayed up late in the Common Room talking about silly things after we finished our homework. It was so surreal to me that we could have just gone farther than I ever had before romantically and now sit here whispering and giggling like the best of friends that we were it was too perfect.

"Yes, truth." I said to him.

"Well you've had that effect quite often on me, especially over the past year… always happens at the most bugger awkward moments too…. Nothing as bad as the first time it happened though…." He said, I noticed he wasn't blushing anymore. It made me very happy that he was comfortable being this open with me.

"It was during our O.W.L.'s of all the bloody places…." He said, and I clasped my hands over my mouth to try unsuccessfully to contain a giggle, but he gave me a sheepish smile and continued.

"Yeah it was History of Magic. I remember I was sitting behind you and staring into space cuz I had finished. It was so bugger hot that day and you twisted your hair up off your neck and stuck a pencil through it and then you were using your wand to blow cool air on your neck… I remember watching those cute little curls at the base of your neck blowing… and then…." He shrugged and I giggled.

"That's random…" I said.

"Not as much as you'd think…." He said, and he reached over and pulled hair off my neck twisting it up into a messy ponytail and holding it there, "I love your hair up 'Mione. You have such a pretty neck…(he ran his hand down it)and you just look so… sexy." He said the last part with a shy smile, but I smiled back.

"So now that we're in the mood for full disclosure…" said Ron as he lay back on the bed. I lay down next to him and he entwined our hands. "If you don't mind, I'd like to know the first time you were ever attracted to me…. You know if you can remember."

"Oh I remember all right." I said with a smile, "You looked at me over the top of a bucket of slugs, and told me that Malfoy calling me Mudblood was a load of rubbish, and right before you bent back over the bucket to belch up more slugs I thought to myself that you had the most beautiful blue eyes I had ever seen."

Ron looked over at me his look half admiration, half disgust.

"Really…" he said, "_That's_ the first time you were attracted to me?? Can we pick a different moment? Or at least tell people it was a different moment? When was the second time you were attracted to me?"

I threw my head back and laughed, a little too loudly. Ron quickly 'shhed' me, and we were silent for a moment listening to see if we were overheard but the house was silent.

"Nope…" I whispered in answer to his question (still giggling) "that's the moment I fell in love with you Ron Weasley and I wouldn't change it for the world."

Ron had stopped. He was looking at me with wide eyes.

"What did you just say?" he whispered.

"I said I wouldn't change it-"

"No the other part…" he interrupted.

"That's when I fell in love with you?" I asked curiously. He nodded.

"You've never said it…" he explained softly.

"Ron…" I said looking deeply into his face with all the tenderness in the world, "After all we've been through how could you not see how much I love you? I Love You…. Ronald Bilius Weasley. With all my heart."

"I love you too Hermione Jean Granger…" he said softly.

Ron and I stayed up almost all night talking about every little thing we had always felt to scared or awkward to say. All the little misunderstandings or secret thoughts in our whole relationship from the day I met him on the Hogwarts Express. By the time morning came, I opened my eyes and smiled knowing that I could now truly say I was lying wrapped in the arms of the one person who knew me better than anyone else on the planet.


	10. Chapter 7 part 3

As it often does in times of great stress, time had a peculiar way of dragging on painfully from second to second and also leaping by in great chunks over those next few weeks. It all seems like a blur to me now, but a few memories ring out sharp and clear. Like the night that Lupin showed up on Bill and Fleur's doorstep to tell us Teddy was born, and the day Harry finally decided to stop obsessing over the Hallows and get back to our mission. We had spoken to the goblin Griphook and he had confirmed our suspicions that Bellatrix Lestrange had one of the Horcrux's in her Gringotts vault. From there, a shaky, feeble, and desperate plan was concocted that hinged most crucially on the help of the unsavory little goblin, whom I; needless to say; did not trust in the least.

This plan is how I ended up standing in the small guest room of Bill and Fleur's Cottage in the grayish light before dawn, staring into the face of the woman I had come to despise more than any other. I picked up a strand of Bellatrix's long dark hair and watched as her exact replica mirrored my motion. Just then a knock on the door startled me.

"Come in." I said softly, and I heard her high cold voice but it sounded strange with my soft timid tone.

"Blooooody Hell!" breathed Ron as he walked through the door, his round eyes trained on me.

"Oh don't!" I said quickly dropping his gaze, "I hate to see you looking at me when I'm indistinguishable from that nasty hag!" I felt my cheeks burning in shame and rage.

"Hey…" said Ron gently, and I heard him walking towards me but I kept my gaze focused on a knot in one of the floor boards, letting the long curtain of Bellatrix's dark hair shield me from his gaze.

"Will you please look at me? I want to see something." Said Ron quietly, he was close enough now that I could see the tips of his sneakers, he put his hand under my chin and ever so softly pulled my face up and forced me to meet his eye. As soon as I did a grin spread across his face.

"There it is… I knew it." He said with a satisfied smile.

"What?" I said, feeling confused and still ashamed.

"Hermione…" said Ron and he tucked the dark hair behind my ear as he continued, "you may be wearing her rotten skin but you could _never_ be indistinguishable to those who truly know you. It's in your eyes," he ran his thumb up my cheek bone to the corner of my eye and I smiled in spite of myself, "see right there! That sparkle… that goodness, that's my 'Mione" said Ron with a grin, and he lightly kissed my cheek.

I sighed in spite of myself and gave him a playful swat on the arm before I went about changing his appearance in the way we had decided upon. When I was finished he took my hand in his and gave it a firm squeeze before heading out to the garden to meet Harry, I went to Griphook's room to retrieve him and then walked as quickly as I could to meet them, I tried not to spend anymore time than was necessary with the loathsome little creature. Once we all met in the garden we wasted to no time hurrying on our way, but at the last moment we all turned for a final look at the place that had, for a brief time, given us some respite from the dark and dangerous world we found ourselves lost in.

"This is the end, we're going to die." Was the last thought that flashed through my brain as we hit the massive waterfall. Water pounded down on us and suddenly we were thrown from the cart that had been taking us deep into Gringotts. Everything had gone wrong, it had taken them minutes to realize something was awry. It was the damn wand, of course they would have been tipped off that we stole it from Bellatrix! I cursed myself for being so stupid. I instinctively grabbed for my small bag that held all our worldly possession. It was still there, I looked around and saw that none of us were the worse for wear, but we were in the thick of it now, I could hear voices in the passage beyond the waterfall, and to make matters worse the falls had erased our magical disguises completely. I instinctively shot a shield charm towards the oncoming threat. Ron asked frantically how we would get out and neither Harry nor I answered but when our eyes met I knew he had come to the same conclusion I had, we wouldn't.

There was nothing to do but press forward, as we rounded the next corner I nearly fainted, there was a huge pale dragon with white eyes. Luckily Griphook had known about this and had known how to deal with it, with the assistance of an Impiriused goblin from the bank we managed to bypass the dragon and make it into the vault. It was enormous the shear volume of the treasure overwhelmed me, just as we stepped in the door sealed behind us, before the scream of terror could even reach my lips Griphook assured us the Gringotts goblin could get us out. I saw a cup and ran to it impulsively but the moment I touched it pain seared through my fingers and I dropped it, to my horror it multiplied into ten more! Griphook explained the spell, anything we touched would burn and multiply. Even as he said it Ron bumped another cup filling the room even more with scalding metal, the heat rose around me and as it didn't so did the panic inside me, I gasped the Summoning Spell knowing full well it didn't work on Horcruxes but needing anything to calm the savage monster threatening to claw it's way out of me. Sudden Harry saw it high above us on a ledge of rock, I was instantly filled with relief, then a new wave of panic as I realized there was no way to reach it. We heard the sound of the oncoming hoard on the other side of the door and cold dread filled me as I met Harry's eyes, the heat rippled through the air around us and I was suddenly hit with the gruesome reality that this stone vault, was very likely my tomb. Harry snapped me back to reality as he said he needed to get to that cup. As was often the case with Harry he needed no further explanation, I simple knew. I used the levitation spell to lift him off the ground but as I did he swung into a suit of armor, and quite literally, all hell broke loose.

Pain, that is the main memory I have of those next few moments, I remember screams, all of our screams mingling together. I vaguely remember pulling the Gringotts goblin from the rising flood of gold, and Harry wrestling with Griphook, but mostly I remember the feeling of flesh being seared slowly inch by inch, feeling ever follicle of my skin because they were all screeching in agony. Then all of a sudden I was falling. The doors had opened, the cool cave breeze felt like heaven but I couldn't stop to enjoy it there was an angry mob and Harry was already shooting stunning spells into their midst I ran to help him, all the while knowing it was futile. Sudden he sent a spell towards the large blind dragon and broke it's restraints. I figured he must have been hoping it would add to the mayhem and take out the distracted, but before I could blink he was running towards it! I screamed at him asking what he was doing but followed as well, this was not the time for hesitation. The next thing I knew we were in flight, Harry in front of me Ron behind, and the savage animal was trying to claw it's way through the ground. I sent spells trying to help it, as best I could and Harry joined in. I held on for dear life feeling boulders rain down around me and waiting for the crushing blow that would end it all when suddenly we broke out into the dazzling sunlight.

We flew for what seemed like hours, I was in a daze, my muscles sore from how tightly I was holding on to the dragon, and my skin feeling almost plastic from the severe burns that covered most of it. Finally after what felt like an eternity we felt the dragon descending, we saw a lake and as it flew low to drink we jumped. The icy cold water soothed my burns, but caused my already sore muscles to cramp as I struggled and sputtered my way to the shore. I collapsed in exhaustion, I felt someone beside me I opened my eyes and saw it was Ron he was looking at me with concern, his face was covered in angry burns. I felt tears welling up in my eyes. His reaction was instantaneous.

"Hermione, it's ok! I know it hurts, where's your bag? I'll get the dittany. I'm going to make this ok 'Mione." He rambled grabbing my bag and rummaging through it frantically.

I put my hand on his and stopped him then as he looked at me, I gently put my hand on the side of his face and guided his lips to mine. I gave him a soft but deliberate kiss and then let him go and gave a half smile.

"Accio dittany." I said, pointing my wand at the bag without taking my eyes off his face, the little bottle jumped into my hand and we began to treat our wounds, momentarily Harry came and joined us. I was lost in my own thoughts as the boys discussed the debacle of gaining the Horcrux but losing the sword. Griphook had taken off with it as at the first sign of trouble. I wondered allowed about the dragon, saying I hoped it would be alright. I felt bad for it, blind in a world it probably didn't understand. Ron teased me saying I should be more worried about us. When Harry asked why, Ron said in a mock serious voice that he had a feeling they knew we broke into Gringotts….. and we were laughing. The kind of laughing we hadn't done in months, maybe not since Dunbledore died, but we needed it. We were alive, we were together, and what was more we were moving forward. When we finally got control of ourselves I began to ask what our plan WAS, because Ron was right about one thing. Voldemort would soon know that we knew his secret, if he didn't already. Suddenly Harry was writhing on the ground, I knew he was having a vision. Ron and I waited anxiously, and when he came out of it he looked pale and shaken but determined. He said what I had been fearing, Voldermort knew, he was going to check on all his Horcrux's, and Harry had seen where the last one was. It was at Hogwarts, he said we had to go immediately I tried to protest that we should make a plan, but he insisted there was no time, and I knew he was right. If Voldemort got to the Horcrux before us he would hide it away so we could never find it. So we made a hasty plan to try to sneak in through Hogsmead and then Apparated away. As we turned I caught sight of a last ray of the sunset, little did I know that before I saw that sun rise again, I would have experienced the most terrifying, and defining moments of my exsistance.

Trouble started the second our feet touched the ground in Hogsmead, there was a terrible screaming and Death Eaters came running out of the Three Broomsticks. It took me only a few seconds to surmise what was going on and a moment later Harry reaffirmed my thoughts, they had known we were coming, which means they had no doubt somehow trapped us here magically. The Invisibility Cloak gave us enough cover to duck into a side street. But the terror began to creep back into my heart as I heard them say they were sending the dementors to find us, the cloak would not hide us from them. Then… I felt them. Their cold seeped towards us, and despair filled me. Not like this, dying was one thing, but losing my soul? Ron's hand grabbed mine tightly under the cloak. Ron's soul! They couldn't have Ron's beautiful soul. The next thing I knew Harry's stag Patronus was charging them down, and the warm summer air rushed back around us, but Harry had done it now, the Death Eaters knew exactly where we were and in this tiny alley there was no way to evade them. Suddenly a door opened across from us and someone called us in. In our desperation we bolted, the voice hurried us upstairs where we huddled under the cloak trembling. We heard the voice arguing with the Death Eaters, I held my breath as the mysterious man made up a very flimsy story about setting off the detection charm while putting his cat out and send his patronus at the dementors. To my utter astonishment and relief they seemed to buy his story and left. As soon as he said it was safe to come out I extricated myself from the cloak and flopped on a stool, to drained to even move. The others were talking, but I didn't even hear the words I was too numb, I supposed I was probably in shock, not that I had ever experienced it to know. All I knew was I could not continue this constant cycle of facing death and being rescued at the last second, my mind and body were breaking down on me.

Suddenly a name was spoken that caught my attention, Aberforth. I looked up for the first time at our rescuer, and received quite a shock. While he was heavier set, and much more rustic and unkempt, there was no mistaking this man was he brother of my beloved deceased Headmaster. I wondered why Dumbledore had never mentioned his only living relative being so very near. Yet now was not the time for questions, Aberforth was arguing with Harry telling him to run, telling him going to Hogwarts was suicide, and that Dumbledore asking him to was selfish. I was worried because he pointed out many of the doubts I knew Harry struggled with everyday, but to my immense pride Harry stood his ground. As I looked around I became painfully aware that Aberforth had surrounded himself with many remnants of his past. A past that I knew was full of pain and loss, the most striking of which was a portrait on the wall. I asked and he confirmed, it was his sister Ariana. We saw a chink in his armor so we pressed and he told us everything, about his sister about her death and the part Dumbledore played. It was terrible, it was tragic, I was shaken to my core to know that a good kind man like Dumbledore could have such a heartbreaking past. As he finished his story he coldly asked Harry how he knew that he wasn't as disposable as Ariana to Dumbledore. I couldn't take it anymore I said with conviction that I knew Dumbledore loved Harry, and when Aberforth asked why he didn't tell him to run then, it was Harry who stepped up. He said sometimes it was about more than the good of one person. That seemed to do him in, he stepped to Ariana's painting and spoke to her. As all pictures in the wizarding world do she moved smiling and then walking away, but instead of moving out of the side of her painting she walked back into it, as though it were a hallway. We began to question this when suddenly we saw a light, she was returning with someone. To our amazement out of the painting stepped none other than Neville Longbottom.

I tried not to stare as we walked quickly down the tunnel but Neville had me riveted as he animatedly explained everything that had happened at Hogwarts. He was in a resistance movement, many of the students had stood up to the Death Eaters and were now in hiding. I sounded like there was a full scale revolt going on! Aside from what he was saying Neville's physical appearance itself was fascinating, one would barely be able to tell he was the same soft spoken boy we had said goodbye to one year previously. Besides his weight loss, which was noticeable, and the many scars he now bore for his defiance to the Death Eaters, there was a fire in his eyes that was almost tangible, he was a warrior now. I felt a nervous energy filling me, it had been growing ever since we left the shore of the lake, this awareness inside me, the end was coming whether victory or defeat, it was near and we could all taste it.

We turned a corner and there was a door ahead of us. Suddenly I had a strange swooping sensation in my stomach. I was going back to Hogwarts. In all the mayhem and pandemonium the true magnitude of that thought escaped me. Now as we sped along the tunnel towards that looming door I asked myself, was I ready? The door opened and we were greeted with instantaneous warm light and an eruption of sound, people shouting our names in all directions. I just got a glimpse of what looked like a huge tree house of sorts when we were mobbed with people. I felt the urge to cry as I looked into all the familiar faces, I drank them in desperately the very sight of them bringing life back to my heart. Seamus Finnegan, the Patil twins, Michael Corner, Ernie Macmillian, and even Lavender Brown. I was so happy to see them I felt I might burst. As I looked around I realized I had no idea where we were, but logically I knew that meant only one thing, which Neville confirmed, we were in the Room of Requirement.

Our elation at seeing our dear friends was short lived as we realized a growing problem. They seemed to be under the impression that our appearance at Hogwarts was a sign that we were ready to declare war and take back the school. We knew we had precious little time to find the Horcrux so we desperately tried to explain our true reason for returning. A task that was hindered greatly by the constant arrival of more people! Apparently Neville had rallied every able body in preparation for a battle. For a moment I thought Harry's resolve might crumble as Ginny walked through the portrait, in the end there were over thirty people in the room and we were losing control quickly. Ron suggested we use them, and I agreed quickly, I could feel time running against us and we had all of Hogwarts to search. So Harry explained exactly what we were there for. Unfortunately no one, not even the Ravenclaw's had any ideas, where the diadem might be. Finally Cho suggested Harry look at the statue of Rowena Ravenclaw in their dormitory, then he would at least know what we were looking for. We all agreed this was a good a place to start as any, and I could barely contain a smirk when Cho volunteered to take him and Ginny waspishly shot her down and volunteered Luna in her place. I had missed Ginny. So Harry told us to wait, and hurried off with Luna.

Unfortunately I was terrible at waiting I paced back and forth getting more and more agitated. I wanted to scream to yell to punch things. I was beginning to feel a battle would be the only thing that could keep me sane because we had to do _something._

"Hermione, take a breath and try to—"

"Do _not_ tell me to calm down Ronald Weasley!" I snapped, cutting him off, "if there was ever a time to be panicked it is_ right now_! We don't even know where this Horcrux is and Voldemort is getting closer by the second! And he sure as hell knows where it is, and even if by some miracle we find it before him, we can't destroy it! Because we lost our one way of destroying them, all we had was the sword, so unless Harry has time to slay another basilisk in the next hou—" I stopped dead. My eyes were wide as I stared at Ron.

"The bathroom!" we gasped at the same time. He didn't even hesitate he grabbed my hand and bolted to where Neville had shown us the entrance. I thought I heard Ginny calling behind us but we didn't stop.

The journey from the seventh floor corridor to the second floor girl's bathroom was perilous. It was much harder to sneak around without the Invisibility Cloak. I was reminded of the time in our 5th year we had snuck out to visit Ron's secret balcony, though that night we only feared detention, this night we feared for our lives. When we reached the bathroom we slipped in and found it mercifully empty, I locked the door and we walked to towards the row of sinks. To our enormous luck even Moaning Mrytle was absent, but we kept our voices to a whisper all the same as to be sure not to alert her. We moved along the sinks to the one at the end on which Ron pointed out the small snake carved on the pipe. At that moment disappointment dropped like a lead brick into my heart. I had been so excited about the possibilities I had forgotten this key point.

"Ron…" I whispered, "It's no use… we can't get down there without Harry. He's the parseltounge."

To my bewilderment Ron rolled his eyes and shook his head.

"Just worked that out have you?" he said in a sarcastic voice.

I was utterly confused, I looked at it from all angles and could see no brilliant plan that would make Ron seem so smug.

"ok here's how I see it." He said matter of factly, "Hermione do you speak French?"

"No," I answered immediately, "I was only there for a few months on summer holiday." I was getting irritated I had no idea what this had to do with anything, but I knew we were running out of time.

"Alright, now how do you say 'yes' in French?" he continued.

"Oui!" I said impatiently.

"Exactly. You don't speak French, but you know how to say that one word because you heard it, and were told what it meant. I'm using the same principle, mind you it may take a few tries… it's been awhile since we last went down here and my parseltounge is a bit rusty." said Ron with a half smile.

He leaned over the sink to the spot where the snake was and began to make strange hissing sputtering sounds. At first nothing happened, but he was persistent changing his tones and inflections slightly. I sat perfectly still as I watched not even daring to breath…. If this worked….. Suddenly the sink began to move, it fell away revealing a huge pipe that lead down into the darkness.

"Ron you did it!" I squealed, forgetting to be quiet, and I threw myself into his arms.

"Shhhhh!" he said as he caught me and clasped a hand over my mouth.

"Ron…" I whispered as softly as a could with my face inches from his, "you are the most amazing man I've ever met."

There was fire in his eyes, it burned into me with an intensity I had never felt but I relished. There was something desperate and hungry about the way he looked at me, and I felt it to. I knew we had costly little time but there was nothing I wanted more in that moment than Ron. He slowly leaned his head down, but just as he was about to reach my all too willing lips a noise behind us stopped him.

"Who's there?" called the sharp screechy voice of Myrtle. From the direction of the sound we knew she was still in the pipes but would make her entrance into the bathroom in seconds. Without a word Ron scooped me up and jumped feet first into the ominous dark pipe before us.

When we landed in a dark musty tunnel Ron led the way forward. We reached a huge mass of rock that obscured almost the whole tunnel. Ron used his wand light to show an opening near the top.

"That's where Harry got through last time….this is as far as I've ever gone." He said, and I could hear the fear in his voice. I took his hand and gave it a squeeze.

"We're in this together." I said firmly, and we made our way forward.

We had to clear out some more rock and debris to fit through. It turned out a hole dug to fit twelve year old Harry was a little snug for eighteen year old Ron. After a few more twists and turns we came to the large stone doors they were ringed by snakes and I shivered just looking at them.

"What do you reckon?" I said.

"Worth a shot…" said Ron with a shrug, and he made the strange hissing noise again. This time he got it on his second try.

"Ron…." I said in awe shaking my head.

"Yeah I know, I know I'm amazing…" he said wryly, "just don't go distracting me again. I gotta keep my head one straight if we're gonna get this done."

I clutched his hand tightly as we entered the chamber. It was like something straight from my nightmares. Huge stone statues of snakes lined the walls and in front of us loomed the most imposing of all. A towering statue of Slytherine himself, and at it's base was a sight that almost brought me to my knees. The baslisk skeleton was so huge I'd wager I could have stood inside it and stretched my arms as high ad wide as I could and not touched either side.

"Do you think it's venom has dried up?" I worried allowed.

"Only one way to find out." Said Ron, and he walked straight up to it's mouth and began yanking on one of it's razor sharp teeth. My first impulse was to pull him back, I knew the creature was dead, but it still seemed threatening.

"I can't believe Harry faced this thing when he was only twelve…" I said in wonder.

"Yeah… well Harry has always had a knack for being able to do more than anyone thought possible hasn't he?" grunted Ron as he tugged on the tooth. With a loud cracking sound it came loose and a black ooze seeped from the socket where it had been.

"I think that answers our question about the venom." Said Ron and he flipped the tooth around like a spear and walked towards me, "now where's the cup?"

I rummaged around in my bag until I found it. I felt it pulsing under my fingertips as I lay it on the floor. It knew, it knew we meant to destroy it. Ron walked up to it determinedly and raised then tooth but then stopped.

"No," he said.

"What do you mean no?" I gasped looking at him in confusion.

"It's gotta be you Hermione. Harry took care of one, so did Dumbledore, so did I, this one is yours." He explained.

"but what if I can't…" I whispered terrified.

"you're the strongest woman I know Hermione. You can do this," he came up behind me and put the tooth in my hand, "don't let it speak." He whispered into my hair.

I was not sure what he meant but I tightened my grip on the tooth and walked forward, steeling myself for anything. Anything except what happened next.

_Hermione Jean stop this at once!_

Her voice stopped me short, took the wind from my lungs. My mother looked up from where she was crouched by the cup. Her eyes held no love or kindness, just cold anger. I knew it wasn't her, but it had been so long since I had sent her away… it felt like an eternity. The tears were in my eyes before I could stop them.

_Let's be honest Hermione. You can't do this, you never could. You spend all this time trying to prove yourself, prove you're the smartest, the cleverest, the most competent, but what are you really? a scared little girl who spends her whole life running from what she knows is true, her mommy was right. she's nothing special. _

_**Nothing special at all, **_broke in another voice. I felt my heart crack again, Mrs. Weasley stood behind my mother, her eyes were just as cold but she looked past me as if I weren't even there, _**Honestly Ron darling why do you bother? It's not as if we would ever accept her, she will never fit into our family or our world, do everyone a favor a leave her now before—"**_STAB IT NOW HERMIONE!"

His voice broke through the waves of pain, and for a moment, just a moment I remembered what I was here for. I didn't hesitate, I stabbed the tooth through the cup with as much force as I could muster and it caved in on itself. A long drawn out piercing scream echoed around the walls, and then died. I didn't realize I was trembling until Ron put his arms around me. I crawled into his lap and sobbed just as I had the summer before. He stroked my hair as we sat on the floor.

"It's not true Hermione." Ron whispered in my hair, "you know what my mum told me one night last summer when we were all at the Burrow? She told me that you were the girl she has wanted for me since I was thirteen years old. That she wish for it everyday, she was so happy. And 'Mione, your parents are so proud of you, you are their whole world. And they should be proud, because you don't have to prove anything to anyone. You are quite possible the most amazing witch of our generation, I'm convinced you _are_ the smartest woman alive, and you should own it! Because you deserve to…"

"Ron…." I mumbled, I was so overwhelmed, all my deepest darkest fears had been laid bare, he knew them, he knew me completely, and he was still here not only standing by me but putting me back together piece by piece, the power of my emotions was overwhelming there was only one thing I could possibly say at that moment, "I love you."

"Right back at you." He said with a smile and he gave me a soft peck on the lips. Suddenly there was a loud rumble that shook the ceiling of the Chamber. We both looked up and saw streams of dust and pebbles falling.

"What was that?" I said looking at him in concern.

"Sounds like…" he looked at me in fear as he trailed off.

"A battle." I finished flatly, somewhere in my mind I had known it would come to this.

We jumped up and ran to the basilisk, we yanked as many teeth free as we could and took off sprinting back up the tunnel. I used the Levitating Spell to get us out and as we emerged back into the bathroom was I realized I had been exactly right. We were at war.


	11. Chapter 7 part 4

As we launched through the bathroom door, we were ready for anything. In the hall outside it was chaos, people running everywhere; students, teachers, most of them taking stances at the windows and firing downward. I guessed the enemy had not made it inside yet. That was one good thing at least.

"How are we ever gonna find Harry in this bedlam?" yelled Ron, over the loud smash of another window breaking.

"Let's head back towards the Room of Requirement! That's where he'll look for us!" I shouted back, and we took off running.

It was slow going owing to the crowded hallways and the fact that our arms were weighed down with the fangs. On the fourth floor we ran into Fred and George perched strategically in two broken window frames sending hex after hex down into the oncoming hoard.

"Reducto!" yelled Fred as he aimed his wand at someone on the ground. Second later he made a whooping sound and chuckled as a jet of green light sailed through the window and took the arm off a statue behind him.

"Whoo! Didn't like that did you, you slag!" he jeered out the window.

"FRED WEASLEY!" Molly Weasley's disapproving screech could be heard even over the deafening booms. She was standing at the end of the hall glaring with her hands on her hips exactly the same way she would in the Burrow, completely oblivious to the war raging around her. I hadn't realized until that moment how much I missed her.

"IF I EVER HEAR THAT WORD COME OUT OF YOUR MOUTH AGAIN!" she continued, advancing down the hall on Fred.

"Mum!" shouted Fred in exasperation as continued to send and doge spells through the window, "It's Bellatrix Lestrange down there! If there's anyone who deserves it, it's HER."

Mrs. Weasley didn't respond, out of the corner of my eye I think I saw her give a reluctant grin but I wasn't paying attention. The moment Bellatrix's name was said rage filled me, it felt as though my vision had gone red and I was not even in control of my own body. I stepped to the window and surveyed the scene for the first time. There were Death Eater's scatted across the ground in various stages of battle, and there she was at the head of the pack, looking almost as gleeful as Fred had been. Since Fred had not returned her fire in a few seconds she must have thought she had done him in, because she had turned her attention to someone in a window a floor down, where she was sending Killing Curses and cackling with delight.

"Iscendio!" I yelled and her billowy robes went up in flames, several of her companions rushed to send jets of water her direction, but I could already hear her shrieks and I smiled ruefully.

"HERMIONE GRANGER!" shouted Fred in pride and glee, "Gimme one up top!" He raised his hand high above his head and I grinned as I jumped to slap it enthusiastically.

"Oi!" shouted Ron, and before I knew what was happening he had grabbed my arm and spun my around crushing me to his chest, just as I felt the rush of the spell graze the back of my head singing my hair. I looked up at him so we were nose to nose.

"Watch yourself there tiger!" he said with a slight smirk.

"Nice one." Said Fred, he was now crouched by the window sill again to avoid the spells from the apparently righted Bellatrix but he was giving us a sloppy grin and he winked over exaggeratedly at Ron.

We gave him what I'm sure were rather sheepish smiles back, before charging up the corridor again hand in hand. We skidded around the last corner and just as I had hoped we found Harry charging down the hall towards us. He was very angry at first shouting he'd been looking everywhere for us, but then when we explained where we had been he was instantly as excited as we were. He quickly explained that he knew where the diadem was, it was in the Room of Requirement in the place where he had hidden his old Potion's book. We sprinted into the room to find Tonks, Ginny, and Mrs. Longbottom of all people! As soon as we explained what we were doing and that we needed to them to leave the room so it would change Tonks, and Neville's Gram took off immediately to go fight. Harry told Ginny to wait outside, because her mother had given her specific instructions not to fight, but I knew as I saw her sprinting out the door she was NOT coming back, and so did Harry. Harry and I were in full planning mode again. The last Horcrux was so close! But suddenly Ron said urgently we'd forgotten the house elves. Harry immediately said we should ask them to fight. I was outraged! How could he even think that after Dobby! I opened my mouth to protest but Ron got there first he said of course not, we should tell them to run, we shouldn't ask them to die for us!

My heart faltered in my chest. I felt tears in my eyes, it was the same feeling I had when I had heard Bellatrix's name a few moments earlier but also completely different. Once again I felt like my body was moving beyond my control, but surging with a kind of raw power and emotion I had never felt before. I dropped the fangs in my arms and in one motion I threw my arms around Ron's neck and crushed my mouth on his. For a split second he was still then he threw his arms around me and kissed me back so vigorously my head began to spin. I parted my lips, deepening our kiss taking our passion to a level it had never been. I wound my fingers in his hair and pulled him tighter to me, it didn't matter what was going on around me. The world didn't exsist in that moment, the only thing that mattered was my Ron, and the sound of his heart pounding out a rapid beat with mine.

"Oi! There's a war going on here!"

Harry's voice finally broke through, and ever so reluctantly I took my lips from Ron's and turn my face to him. I also realized at that moment that Ron had lifted me off the ground in his enthusiasm, he set me back down and we both mumbled apologies to Harry like guilty school children. I couldn't tell if he was more annoyed or amused. It seemed like he was riding the line so we let it go and quickly got back to the mission at hand.

As we exited the room in became painfully obvious the fighting had grown ten times worse just in the past few minutes. Ginny was now also at a window shooting spells, Aberforth ran by and Tonks desperately asked about Lupin before tearing off in the direction Aberforth instructed. Ginny looked at us her face full of terror, and Harry assured her it would be alright. My heart ached for them because I could see how much more he wanted to say, how desperately they held each others eyes. But Harry was dragging Ron and I back towards the door, he paced fiercely and then suddenly the door appeared again and we bolted inside. The room was overwhelming, piles upon piles of mismatched objects, hundreds of years worth of things Hogwarts students had wanted to hide. Harry suggested we split up to find it, so we all took off running once he had described the diadem and where it was. I ran and ran, it boggled my mind how _huge _the place was. After about ten minutes I stopped running, I slumped with my hands on my knees, there was a stitch in my side and I was working on getting my breath even. Suddenly I heard Ron call Harry's name, he sounded far away but I perked up. Maybe he had found the diadem! I walked to the end of the row I was in and looked both ways to see if I could find the source of his voice. Suddenly I heard it, the shattering of glass and the unmistakable sound of a duel in progress. I sprinted flat out in the direction of the sound, terrified of what I might find. As I skidded around the last corner I reflexively sent a Stunning Spell at the large boy advancing on Harry. It was Malfoy, Crabbe, and Goyle, leave it to them to ruin everything! My spell missed it's mark and Crabbe aimed a killing curse at me. He had to dive to avoid Harry's next spell and in doing so he knocked Malfoy's wand out of his hand into a large pile of junk. One wand down, both Crabbe and Goyle pointed their wands at Harry but Malfoy screamed not to kill him, in the moment of confusion Harry disarmed Goyle. Two wands down. Crabbe began to duel Ron and in a moment of impulse I charged Goyle hitting him with a Stunning Spell. Harry had his back to me looking for the diadem, for a moment I thought we had the upper hand but then I heard it. I screamed Harry's name as I looked up and saw Ron and Crabbe running towards us, trying to outrun a wall of flames. From one look I knew exactly what it was it was Fiendfyre, a cursed fire that would grow until it consumed all. We ran, ran with all our might but it surrounded us. We were going to burn! Suddenly Harry threw a broom at Ron, he pulled me on behind him and I buried my face in his back and locked my arms around him like a vice grip. All I could think was, get to the door Ron, get to the door. Suddenly we heard him, and I opened my eyes long enough to see him. Draco was standing on a pile of knick knacks, holding Goyle who was unconscious. Harry dived for them, I knew he would never be able to hold them both on his broom. In another second Ron was diving too, shouting if we died for them he'd never forgive Harry. Our broom drooped dangerous close to the flames, and it was all I could do to hold on to the unconscious Goyle and keep my grip on Ron so as not to fall. We streaked for the door the fire nipping our heels searing at us. The door shone in front of us Ron urged the broom forward and we shot out into the corridor smacking the wall and landing hard on the floor. Harry and Draco shot out after us and for a moment we all just lay there gasping for breath.

When we sat up shakily I noticed the Horcrux on Harry's arm, that's when I remembered, Fiendfyre could destroy Horcrux's! As we all looked at the remains of the final Horcrux I was the first to finally say it. Only the snake left, I couldn't believe we had actually completed this insane mission. Our revelry was broken only seconds later, as the battle rounded the corner. Percy and Fred were taking on two Death Eaters, we ran to join them. At four to two took them down easily. Percy even made a joke of some kind, I don't remember it now all I remember is Fred laughing, and then… the explosion. I flew across the room feeling the rubble rain down around me, my ears were ringing as I sat up. Then I heard it, the long drawn out wail that made my blood run cold. I looked up and there were Percy and Ron, kneeling over the third red headed boy. I knew he was dead, before I even moved a step closer. But the battle was still raging around us. I screamed as huge spiders the size of cars began to climb through the wall. We kept trying to pull Percy free but he wouldn't leave Fred's body. Harry gave me and Ron a push and we began to run, but it was just instinct. My legs were carrying me but my mind was numb, all I could think was, Fred…. Fred can't be dead, he just can't. Suddenly a Death Eater rounded the corner and Ron charged him, he didn't even raise his wand, he smashed his fist into the tall man's long nose. The man slumped against the wall but Ron just kept punching him over and over his face becoming more and more of a bloody pulp.

"Ron!" I screamed as I ran and began to tug on his arm, but it was no use, just then Hargrid came thumping around the corner, "Hagrid help me!" I begged.

Hagrid dashed to Ron and plucked him off the man with one hand. I noticed a tapestry that I knew held a secret passage and I wrenched it open and Hagrid tossed Ron in.

"Wotch 'im Hermione! I gotta keep goin'!" he shouted and he took off again.

I jerked the curtain back in place and turned just in time Ron was on his feet again. I put my hands on his chest and dug my feet in pushing him back as he struggled against me.

"I'm gonna kill him, with my bare hands!" he shouted trying to wrench my hands off him.

"Ron stop! Please stop!" I begged, I put my hands on the side of his face, he continued to struggle clawing at me trying to wrenching his face from my grip. "Look at me!" I said firmly but he ignored it. "Ron! Look at me!" I said again jerking his face so he was forced to. He stopped struggling and met my eyes. "Stop…" I said again gently, and I cupped his cheek in my hand. He collapsed, he buried his head in my should and was wracked with sobs, I held him as tight as I could and let the tears flow freely too. After a moment we heard Harry and a moment later we heard Percy shouting and charging down the corridor. It started all over, I peeked my head out to call to Harry and Ron tried to skirt around me eager to rejoin the battle. It took both Harry and I to control him and convince him we needed to stick to our mission we had to find the snake and kill it! I was so desperate, so completely worn down that I asked Harry to do the one thing that I had been begging him to fight for so long, I asked him to reach into Voldemort's mind and find out where he was. Harry slumped against the wall his eyes were unfocused and we knew he was having a vision, to my immense relief Ron stood still with me watching him carefully, a few moments later he was back. He said Voldemort was in the shrieking shack, an argument ensued over who should go, each of us thought we'd have the best chance on our own. The argument was cut short when the Death Eaters found us and we had to run for our lives, so we ended up going together. The journey from that secret stairway to the Whomping Willow, was like something from my darkest nightmares, to this day I don't remember many details. But a few things stick out, sharp and clear like splinters in my mind, the dementor attack, how Luna, Dean, and Seamus saved us just in time. The spiders carrying Hagrid into the forest, and the giants, Hagrids baby brother Grawp locked in a horrific fight to the death with a savage giant twice his size.

When we were finally in the tunnel it felt strangely safe. I knew we were headed for the most dangerous of all places at this exact moment, but in the dark quiet tunnel I felt secure, only when the tunnel began to slope upward did I feel the fear creeping back into my heart. I warned Harry to put the cloak back on, and we did. Even though I knew we were hidden not only by the cloak but my the trap door that separated us from the room above, the moment I heard Voldemort's high cold voice I felt a thrill of fear like I had never experienced before. I clutched Ron's hand so tight that it hurt. He was speaking with Snape, he was asking him why the Elder Wand would not work for him. We had gleaned earlier that the elder wand had belonged to Dumbledore, and Voldemort had broken into his tomb to steal it. From the moment the conversation began I knew where it was headed, I knew the end result. Wands recognized masters, the only way to make a wand recognize you was to defeat it's owner. Voldemort had not defeated Dumbledore, therefore the wand did not recognize him, it recognized another….. just as this thought came through my mind I heard Voldemort utter a horrible hissing cry and I heard the snake hiss angrily and then Snape began to scream. I clamped my hands over my mouth to keep from crying out and stared horrified at the trap door. Voldemort left the house, and to our utter dismay he took the snake with him. I knew we had to get back to the others, so I was bewildered and terrified when Harry lifted the door! He walked across the room to Snape. I couldn't help it, I knew what a horrible person this man was, but I couldn't help but pity him. Lying on the floor, drowning in a pool of his own blood as it gushed from his neck. He placed his wand to his temple and pulled out a silver strand which he raised with a shaking hand to Harry. I conjured up a bottle, I had no clue what this memory was, but I wasn't about to deny a dying man his last wish. Snape looked meaningfully into Harry's eyes and then, he was gone. At that moment Voldemort's voice ran out cold and clear, he said he was calling a one hour truce for us to collect our dead and wounded, if Harry came to him in that time he would end the fighting. He then specifically assaulted Harry, asking him how many more he would let die. Ron and I both knew that was the final straw, we begged him to see reason, to go back to the castle and he agreed but on the way back we were silent, Ron and I knew he had made up his mind. All we could do was hope for a miracle.

Going back to the castle didn't help matters. We entered the great hall to be assaulted by the rows of bodies. The Weasley's were gathered around Fred's. I didn't hesitate, I moved to Ginny and just held her. I knew Fred was her favorite brother, and with the call Voldemort had just made to Harry I couldn't imagine what she must have been feeling. She fell into my arms, just as I had fallen into hers 6th year, and she cried. After a few moments I steered her closer to her family, as I did I noticed two more bodies, Lupin and Tonks. I felt as though another brick had been dropped in my heart, my knees were shaking. We were all standing around Fred now, Mrs. Weasley was lying across him sobbing as Mr. Weasley stroked her hair. Ron and Percy were standing with arms throw over each others shoulders crying softly. George was sitting at Fred's head staring down at him, not moving, barely breathing. Ginny knelt behind him and wrapped her arms around his chest, she squeezed him tight and buried her face in his shoulder. He leaned his head against hers slowly. I felt out of place, an intruder but I wasn't sure where to go. I looked up and realized Harry was gone, I felt as though I should have been surprised, but I wasn't. I began to slowly back away from the family, but as I did, much to my surprise Mr. Weasley caught my hand in his, and pulled me back.

"Don't go Hermione," he said gently, "You are a part of this family, and family stays together." He put his arm around my shoulder and to my continued astonishment, he squeezed me in a one armed hug and pressed his cheek to the top of my head just as my father had done so many times before. I felt tears in my eyes as I hugged him back. We all stood in silence, and I let the tears flow, as I mourned the death of my beloved brother, with my family.

I don't know how long we stood there in silence before Ginny met my eye, she stood up after kissing George's cheek and reached for my hand we walked slowly to the front of the room. She sat on the steps with her hands wrapped around her knees.

"He went to Voldemort."

It wasn't a question, her voice was hollow, she sounded almost as though a dementor had sucked out her soul. It killed me to see her this way. I searched desperately for anything, to keep her talking. I was honestly afraid of her going catatonic on me. My eyes unwillingly found the bodies of Lupin and Tonks again.

"How did they…"I began, but stopped unable to finish the thought.

"Bellatrix," said Ginny in the same dead pan voice, and she continued, "She was torturing a boy, couldn't have been more than fourteen, Tonks ran out to help him and when Bellatrix attacked, Lupin tried to distract her. As soon as she killed him Tonks charged her, she tortured her for a good twenty minutes straight, would have kept going to but the giants got in the way and then Voldemort ordered the cease fire. We ran to her, but her heart had already stopped. Too much stress Dad said."

I looked at Ginny, too repulsed to speak. I didn't know what to do, she stared off into space, as if there was nothing left in the world that could hold her interest, and I started at her, too mesmerized by the horror of it all.

"Ginny." George's voice was above us and we both looked up, I was surprised to see how… alive he looked, pain was etched in every feature of his face, but his eyes were blazing with a fire. "Ginny they're organizing a party to go find the wounded and help them back to the castle. Come help?"

Ginny didn't move or even really acknowledge him. He knelt in front of her and put and put a hand on her cheek, "It's what they want Gin, Harry and Fred want you to keep fighting. They want _us_ to keep fighting. You can't cash out on me yet 'lil bird. Come on get up."

Something registered in Ginny's eyes at the sound of the nickname that Fred and George had given her as a baby, her eyes met George's and silent but intense things past between them. She took his hand and he pulled her up.

"Hermione," said George and I jumped at the sound of my name, "They are setting up a triage and emergency medical aid station across the hall they could use your spell knowledge, and organizational skills."

"Right." I said immediately, glad to have some purpose again.

Twenty minutes later I was standing in what used to be a classroom and was now a stiflingly hot, overcrowded, make shift emergency treatment center. Sweat poured now my face and I was in a disheveled mess as I looked around the room into all the scared faces, it had been forty minutes since Voldemort's announcement, no one had seen Harry but I knew we had precious time to heal all these people.

"Listen up!" I shouted over the crowd and everyone fell quiet. "ok , if you have broken bones of any kind go to the front left corner and see Mrs. Weasley she will patch you up! Regular burns and cuts, go to the front right corner and see Luna and Dean! Any damage whether mental or physical having to do with curses please come to the back of the room to see me and Professor McGonagall! And people please common courtesy! If you see someone with injuries worse than yours let them ahead of you! We have to work together if we're going to survive!"

With that I walked to the back of the room, I was just lifting Ginny's infamous bat bogey hex from the face of a poor girl who'd been caught in the line of fire when Ron, Percy and George carried in a boy with a badly broken leg.

"You're going to be fine now. Go get some water and try to rest a bit." I told the girl squeezing her arm. I looked up and suddenly Ron was beside me. He cupped my face in his hands and kissed me firmly but sweetly.

"You're the most amazing woman on the planet." He breathed against my lips, "I love you."

With that he let me go and went with his brothers to collect more wounded, I watched him go unaware until I started feeling light headed, that I was holding my breath. Then my fleeting happy moment was ripped apart by a booming high cold voice speaking the words I will never forget as long as I live.

"_Harry Potter is dead. He was killed as he ran away, trying to save himself while you lay down your lives for him. We will bring you his body as proof that your hero is gone. _

_The battle is won. You have lost half of your fighters. My Death Eaters outnumber you and the Boy Who Lived is finished. There must be no more war. Anyone who continues to resist, man, woman, or child will be slaughtered, as well as every member of their family. Come out of the castle now, kneel before me, and you shall be spared. Your parents and children, your brothers and sisters will live and be forgiven, and you will join me in the new world we shall build together."_

I walked slowly out of the room with MacGonagall at my side. Ron and Ginny were standing in the Entrance Hall, the doors were thrown wide and we all stared out into the darkness.

"It's a trick, Voldemort is trying to draw us out." Said MacGonagall, but her voice was wavering.

"Trick or not, they're coming." Said Ginny, her voice hard.

"Hermione…. I have to apologize." Said Ron abruptly, looking at me with all the intensity in the world.

"For what?" I said softly.

"I love you. I want to spend forever with you, have a family grow old, but I won't do it in a world with _him, _I can't. So if he isn't bluffing, if it's true, I'm sorry but, I have to make my stand tonight, and I'll die fighting for what's right."

"And I'll be right beside you." I said with conviction slipping my hand into his.

"Me too." Said Ginny, and I felt her take my other hand.

They came into the light slowly, fanning out in a defensive pattern. Voldemort brought up the front of the pack and behind him walked Hagrid. Nothing, not the torture, nor the dead faces of all those I loved could have prepared me for the heart wrenching pain that ripped through me at the sight of Harry's limp body in Hagrid's arms. Voldemort tried to convince us he ran but we would have none of it, suddenly someone pushed through the crowd, it was Neville. He ran right at Voldemort with more bravery than I thought possible, but of course he was no match, Voldemort had him writhing on the ground in seconds while Bellatrix laughed in delight. I was filled with revulsion. Voldemort asked Neville to join him and as another tribute to the unshakably courageous person Neville Longbottom is, he said he would rather die. To my horror Voldemort placed him in a full body bind and summoned the Sorting Hat, he placed in on Neville head, and with a last word about making an example of what would happen to those who defied him he set it on fire. Bile rose in my throat as Neville's screams filled the air. Suddenly the world exploded into chaos again, Grawp came charging from the forest with the entire herd of centaurs leading them stampeding towards his brother. The Death Eaters scattered, but I stood transfixed. I watched it happen as if in low motion, Neville launched off the ground sword in hand and in one graceful motion he severed the head of the enormous snake.

"HE KILLED THE SNAKE RON!" I shouted at the top of my lungs grabbing his arm. Now all that needed to happen was one of us had to get a shot at Voldemort, just one shot. We were all pushed and shoved back into the building in a crushing mob, somehow I caught hold of Ginny and we were pushed against a wall in the Great Hall. Then I saw her, standing on the table looking like some sick queen. I shot a spell at Bellatrix and it caught her hair ruffling it, she spun around.

"Why hellooo pretty Mudblood! Come back for round two? Crucio!" she screeched.

Ginny and I dived behind a scrap of wood and found Luna there, we all began to send spells flying at Bellatrix but even three to one we were too evenly matched. Then a Killing Curse missed Ginny by inches.

"NOT MY DAUGHTER YOU BITCH!" screamed Mrs. Weasley, and I felt a pang in my heart wishing Fred could there to berate his Mum for her language. They began to duel it was fierce and terrible, but at the last second Bellatrix was distracted and Mrs. Weasley landed her death blow. I watched as the wicked lights left the eyes of my mortal enemy forever.

Just then a shield charm erupted in the middle of the room. I looked up to see two men inside that shield, Voldemort and…my heart skipped a beat, Harry. I looked into Ginny's face and her eyes were glowing radiantly, Harry shouted he didn't wanted help. I was hard to catch every word through the shield so we just sat there Ginny, Luna, and I clinging to each other. We heard them shouting as they circled each other, I heard something about the Elder Wand, something about Snape, Harry told Voldemort Snape wasn't his man. Suddenly the two men took their stance, I saw Harry's jet of red light and Voldemort's green one. Then in a moment I could barely believe was real, Voldemort's wand flipped, it turned and the green light hit him squarely in the chest, he fell slowly almost gracefully spread eagle, and then hit the floor with a resounding crash, never to move again.

There was a moment of shock and then the Great Hall erupted, we were all running for Harry. Ron and I reached him first and I wrapped him in my arms unable to believe it was true, I sobbed into his shirt dimly aware of all the arms now crushing us, but simply being thankful for every single beat of my best friend's heart. We had done it.

**_NOTE: Thanks so much to everyone who loves this story, and I just wanna let you know. THIS IS NOT THE END. This is Ron and Hermione's love story, which did not end with the books, from here on out it's solely my ideas, and TEASER, the next Chapter is gonna be Juuuuicy! :) and I promise I'll update soon!_**


	12. Chapter 8

I watched a thestral soar over the tree tops of the Forbidden Forest. I'd never imagined that was what they looked like. How ironic was it that in the end it was Voldemort that had finally allowed me to see them. Ron shifted his weight readjusting his head where it rested on my collar bone.

"Ruddy freakish aren't they?" he said looking at the same winged skeletal horse.

I didn't answer I simply brushed his bangs back and kissed his forehead. I wasn't sure how long we had been sitting here but the sun had risen properly and was now beating down warm upon us. It had been only minutes after Harry had administered the final blow that he had pulled Ron and I away and explained everything. He explained how Draco had actually disarmed Dumbledore making him master of the Elder Wand, so when Harry had disarmed Draco at Malfoy Manor he had become the wands master, which is why it turned on Voldemort when he tried to kill Harry with it. When it was explained so simply it made perfect sense, there was discussion about what to do with the wand. In the end Harry had decided he didn't want to keep it, since it is the most powerful wand in existence he used it to fix his old wand. After awhile Harry had told both Ron and I to get some sleep, but as utterly exhausted as we were I think we both knew that sleep would not come. So we walked, we walked all over the remains of the castle hand in hand just talking, about everything. Finally we ended up where we were sitting at that moment, the owlery. There was not a single owl, I supposed they had all stayed away because of the battle. We sat on the window ledge, me leaning against the wall and Ron leaning against me his head resting on my chest, my fingers absentmindedly playing with his hair. We had been silent for quite some time, I was overwhelmed by the peacefulness of it all. I felt the warm thick spring air, sweet with flowers, and watched the birds soar slowly through the bright blue sky, and listened to Ron's steady breathing, even in light of everything that had happened just a few short hours ago the world felt…righted.

"I reckon we should probably try to get some sleep." Said Ron softly, "I can't remember the last time I did…"

"You're right…" I said with a sigh, we stood and stretched. Ron smiled at me, a real genuine smile and I returned it. He threw his arm around my shoulders and I put mine around his waist and we headed back towards Gryffindor. When we had reached the fifth floor Ron stopped just as we were passing a large ornate wooden door. I knew it well, it was the door that lead to the special prefect's bathroom.

"Hey 'Mione. Do you mind if I meet you back in Gryffindor?" said Ron slowly, "I really need a bath I'm covered in grime and I'd rather not sleep that way."

I squeezed him tightly, I knew I was being childish, immature, and completely ridiculous but I didn't want to let him go, even for the short amount of time it would take him to have a quick bath. Ron gave me a crooked grin and lifted my chin so he could give me a peck on the lips.

"I won't be long love. I don't wanna spend a second away from you either." He said.

He made to pull his face away put I impulsively put my hand behind his neck and pulled him back in giving him a long, slow, drawn out kiss. Unlike the kiss in the Room of Requirement this one was not full of blazing fire, it was glowing embers in my core that began to slowly burn. All of sudden I knew what I wanted, the thought flew into my mind with the force of a Bludger, and it felt like hundreds of squirmy things exploded in my stomach. I couldn't want that now! With everything going on? With everything we'd been through how could I even think it? _Because you love him, and you are alive, and you're together._ Said a small voice inside me, and I knew it was true. I pulled back to look at Ron's face, and hoped against hope my hands weren't shaking.

"Bloody hell Hermione…. Remind me to tell you I need to have a bath more often if that's your reaction." He said, his breath still a little uneven.

"Ron…" I began, hating how small my voice sounded. I swallowed hard, once the words came out there was no taking them back, "Do you mind if I join you?" I said, my heart pounding so hard I could feel it in my throat.

His face blanched, he stood there as still as a statue, the only clue I had that he was still alive was that he blinked periodically. My resolve crumbled immediately, what was I thinking? He just lost his brother, we haven't slept in days we're both emotionally ravaged, and here I am thinking about…..I felt utterly humiliated.

"I'm sorry"! I gasped, "that was so stupid of me, just forg—" my words were cut off by the crushing of his lips against mine.

"Shut up." He whispered as he pulled away and in one motion he swept me up in his arms and turned to the door.

I took my wand out and tapped the exact spot that we had been shown when we became prefects and the door swung open. Ron carried me into the huge bathroom and set me down on the stone floor. I looked around, the bathroom looked the same as it had the last time I had been here. There were no windows in this room it was lit by a handful of torches set in brackets along the wall, their light sent wavering reflections off the shiny smooth marble of the now empty Olympic sized bathtub with it's wall of hundreds of different taps along the far side.

I pointed my wand at the door behind us and the lock clicked into place with a resounding snap. As it did Ron met my eyes and his were filled with the same nerves that were running through every inch of me. After another moment I couldn't hold his gaze any longer so I looked away, painfully aware I was blushing. My eyes found the door at the far left side of the room that led to the dressing rooms.

"I'm just going to take a minute… to make myself more presentable." I mumbled, "I'll….meet you in there." I finished trying hard not to look at the bath tub.

"Ok…" said Ron softly, his voice sounded as small as mine.

I walked into the dressing room, it had a wall with pegs along it, on which to hang your clothes and a pile of fluffy white towels, next to a long counter with sinks and mirrors. I looked at myself in the mirror and groaned. I was covered in dirt and blood. My hair was matted and frizzy giving it the appearance of a birds nest. I began to splash water on my face and neck but it was no use, under one layer of grime was another. I looked over at the row of showers along the back wall, it seemed entirely absurd to shower before taking a bath, but I was filthy and I refused to walk out there to…..Ron, I purposely skipped over the details in my head, looking like an ill treated house elf! I stepped in to the shower letting the warm water flow over me. I scrubbed and scrubbed watching the water turn brown as it flowed off me. After a good ten minutes of scrubbing and wrestling with my hair I stepped out and examined myself in the mirror.

The improvement was immense, I wouldn't be winning any beauty contests, and I still looked exhausted, but at least I was clean. I threw my damp, lank curls into a messy bun on top of my head and then turned away from the mirror. Suddenly I was struck with a dilemma, what did I wear? I wasn't about to put back on the dirty rags that were now piled on the floor, but the idea of walking out there wearing nothing brought those uncomfortable squirmy things alive in my stomach again. In the end I reached for one of the towels sitting on the pile and wrapped it around myself. I put my hand on the door that led back to the main bathroom, as I cracked it open the sound of running faucets met my ears. Unexpectedly, my heart started pounding out of my chest and my breath caught in my throat. I took a step back and leaned against the wall trying to steady my breathing. Waves of panic rolled over me. What was I doing? This was not me, I didn't do things like this! I was a good responsible girl! It was other girls who did things like this. I didn't jump into bed, or in this case bath, with the first boy who came along! But this isn't the first boy ho came along… I opened my eyes and my breathing slowed, this was Ron, my Ron. I would never love anyone else the way I loved him. I stood up and shook my head slightly to right myself. Then I squared my shoulders and took a deep cleansing breath. It was the same feeling I used to have before every exam, the moment of panic, and then the calm assurance. I turned back towards the door but at the last second I remembered something. I ran back into the bathroom and grabbed my wand from where I had left it on the sink. I pointed it at my stomach and did the complicated motion Ginny and I had read about what seemed like a lifetime ago. The contraceptive spell, this may be impulsive but I was still me, and I was covering all my bases.

I pushed open the door that led to the main bathroom and I gasped. The first thing that hit me was the beautiful smell, the bathtub was emitting a intoxicating floral sent. The second thing that caught me was the beauty of it. Ron had filled the tub up almost to the brim but instead of traditional bubbles he had found a faucet that emitted thick glowing foam that now coated the surface of the water making it look like molten gold, and I was fairly sure it was also the source of the delicious aroma. I tore my eyes from the beautiful water and I found him, standing under one of the faucets at the far end letting clear water run through his shaggy red hair. I watched the path of the water as it ran down his chest across the defined muscles of his stomach, I realized I was biting my lip. I began to walk across the room towards the tub never taking my eyes from him. Suddenly I tripped and my feet caught on something on the floor, I looked down and felt a swoop in my stomach. His clothes were lying in a pile at my feet. The water had stopped running. I looked up and saw he had made his way across the tub and was now leaning with his arms folded on the edge nearest me looking up at me with a shy smile.

"Nice towl." He teased with a smirk.

"Oh thanks, I picked it out especially for you." I shot back, and I walked over and sat down on the edge of the tub putting my legs into the silky warm water up to my calves. Ron moved closer until he was right in front of me.

"Come on in…the water's great." He said and flopped back into it to prove his point. He resurfaced a second later right in front of me and I jumped in fright, which just made him grin.

"That wasn't funny Ron!" I said trying to glare, but I knew I was smiling.

"It was a little funny…" he said gently, but there was something in his voice, and his eyes that made my pulse quicken, that same burning ember. He pushed the towel back and brushed his lips along the side of my knee. I closed my eyes and sighed. He brought his fingertips to the place where his lips had just been, and as he stood and brought his lips to mine his hand began to trace it's way up my thigh under the towel an came to rest on my hip. We were kissing vigorously now, our lips moving perfectly against each others. After moment more I pulled away, light headed and needing to catch my breath, but he was not deterred his began to move his lips down the side my neck, and I sighed once more twining my fingers in his hair.

"Ron…" I breathed and he brought his face back to mine looking deep into my eyes, "Wasn't I supposed to be joining you in this bath?" I said, brushing my nose against his.

I felt his hands on the towel but we didn't break our gaze, I felt the towel fall away and he kissed me as he pulled me with him into the warm soft water. I finished the kiss as we stood their waist deep in the water and took a step back, still keeping his arms around me. I felt the color rise in my cheeks as he stared at me, drinking me in with an awed expression. He ran his hand down the side of my neck as his eyes met mine again.

"Are you scared?" he asked, barely above a whisper.

I shook my head slowly, "No." I whispered back, I stepped back to him and kissed the spot right above his heart, I looked up into those grey blue eyes I had adored since I was twelve.

"I love you." I said.

He wrapped his arms around me pressing my body against his and pulled us both into the sweet golden water.

* * *

"How do you feel?" said Ron.

It was sometime later, though the exact amount of time I couldn't tell you. At the sound of his words I lifted my head from where I was cuddle comfortably against his chest and look at him incredulously.

"How do I feel? You honest need to know the answer to that question?" I said with a sarcastic eyebrow, the water rippled as I turned to look at him.

"That's not what I meant.." he said, brushing my hair off my shoulder and kissing it, "It didn't you know…" he paused looking shy, "hurt you or anything?"

"No Ron…"I said with a smile, kissing him lightly, "It was quite perfect actually."

I wasn't exaggerating, I turned out all my worrying had been completely unneeded, while there was a slight amount of discomfort at the beginning there was in no way the amount of pain I had been prepared for. Ron and I seemed to just, fit perfectly together, like puzzle pieces. Something that was secretly a very satisfying thought to me, we were completely compatible emotionally, and physically.

"What are you grinning about?" said Ron tilting his head.

"Oh nothing." I said, blushing that I had been caught, I put my head back on his should and he sighed.

"What's wrong…." I said, as I intertwined our fingers under the water.

"It's nothing… I just kind of feel…. Guilty…" he said slowly.

"For what?" I said, I heard the edge of hurt in my voice and began to pull away. Did he regret what we had just done?

"No no no!" he said his eyes getting wide in recognition, he grabbed me and pulled me back tight against him.

"Not guilty because of that!" He went on to explain, "Guilty because my brother died not twelve hours ago, yet at this exact moment I cannot remember a time in life when I have ever been this completely, irrevocably, and incandescently _happy_."

Tears welled up in my eyes as I kissed him and spilled over as I gave a small hiccupping laugh.

"Ron that's nothing to feel guilty about…. That's exactly what Fred would want. You know he wouldn't want anyone mourning when they could be happy." I said.

"You're right…." Said Ron with a tired smile, "when did you get so smart?" he said kissing me on the nose, he then proceeded to yawn widely.

"I think it's time for bed." I told him.

"Right…. Ummm…" he began, and we both looked around the room and back at each other, "What do you propose we wear?" he said, and we both began to laugh.

"There's some bath robes in the dressing room." I said still chuckling.

"Yeah let's just hope we don't bump into anyone from here to Gryffindor Tower." said Ron, and he hopped out of the tub and reached his hand down to help me out behind him.

* * *

I was awake but I didn't want to open my eyes. I felt the warm sunlight on the side of my face, I heard birds chirping a frantic song back and forth outside the window. I also heard and felt the loud rumbling snores emanating from the soft warm chest I was using as my pillow. I opened my eyes slowly and watched the dust particles trickling in the beam of sunlight that peeked through the crack in Ron's bed curtains. I wondered what time it was, it had been almost one in the afternoon when Ron and I had finally made our way to Gryffindor Tower and collapsed in this bed. As consciousness seeped back into my brain I was aware of soft voices very close, voices I knew well. As I listened realization washed over me and a huge grin spread across my face. On our arrival in the room we had seen the hangings pulled around Harry's bed and heard his slow rhythmic breathing and thought nothing of it, except that we were glad he was finally resting. Now though as I heard him conversing quietly with a distinctly female voice, I realized he had not been resting alone. Suddenly Ginny shrieked and they both started laughing, it sounded as though they were having a wrestling match. Ron jolted awake looking confused and bleary eyed.

"What the?" he mumbled, he looked at me and I just grinned and pointed to the bed next to ours.

He yanked back his curtain and snapped at them to be quiet, which of course earned him a snide comment from his sister. Their banter went back and forth for a few minutes before Ginny pointedly asked him why he wasn't trying to rip Harry's head off for their impropriety. I saw Ron's face go brick red and I grinned evilly as I said loudly that if he did he'd be a filthy hypocrite! I heard Harry laughing from the next be over and Ron turned on me, he pushed me down on his bed and hovered over me.

"That wasn't nice." He said, pretending to glare.

"Oops." I said mischievously, and he rolled his eyes and kissed me. After a moment Harry said something about breakfast. I knew Ron couldn't ignore his stomach for much longer so Ginny suggested that she and I go back to her dorm and I could borrow some clothes from her, and we told the boys we'd meet them back in the common room. I had my robe to pull back on but Ginny was forced to make a make-shift toga out of the bed sheet. Thankfully we were the only four in Gryffindor tower so we made it to the girls dormitory without much trouble.

"Oh my God Hermione!" Ginny gasped the minute we got through the door, and I couldn't help myself I collapsed into giggles with her. Ginny and I were not usually like this, so girly and silly, but we hadn't seen each other in so long, and we were so completely happy that it was infectious.

"When I heard your voice in that bed!" Ginny continued, as she rummaged in her chest and tossed me a comfortable looking blue cotton sun dress.

"Yeah gave you a bit of a shock there didn't we?" I said with a grin as I pulled it over my head.

"You think?" said Ginny, she buttoned her jean shorts and threw her Hollyead Harpies t shirt over her head.

"Alright dish." She said, plopping on her bed and looking at me eagerly, "I wanted to know _everything_."

"Isn't that weird Gin? I mean he's you bro—"

"LALALALALA not listening!" she put her fingers in her ears shaking her head, "Listen," she continued, once she was sure I stopped the thought, "I'm choosing not to acknowledge that thought for sake of girl talk with my best friend ok? So dish!"

"Ok…. It was… a little scary at first." I began.

"Yeah me too… but it got better… and then it was just sort of…"

"Perfect…" I finished for her, and we both grinned.

"What about you though? I mean the Boy Who Lived, the Vanquisher of the Dark Lord. Now those are some bragging rights!" I teased.

" Yeah well what can I say I'm pretty much amazing." said Ginny with mock superiority and we laughed.

"Honestly I was just hoping he didn't pass out from exhaustion or something…" said Ginny as she pulled her hair into a ponytail. I couldn't contain a sort of laughter.

We made our way back downstairs to meet the boys I ran to Ron and kissed him.

"You look beautiful." He said.

"You are biased." I answered.

The house elves had brought us a heaping plated of eggs bacon and toast, we all dug in, and ate hungrily. There was very little talking, but as I looked around he table I knew as I met each pair of eyes what we were all saying silently. We were about to head into this new chapter of our lives, together. It was time for happiness, and time for new beginnings.


	13. Chapter 9

A tiny pale white spider, barely bigger than the head of a pin, was crawling through Ron's shaggy hair. I reached over and brushed it out casually hoping he wouldn't notice. He simply smiled at my touch and I was grateful. Nothing would spoil this perfect moment quite like Ron jumping around yelling because of a spider.

"Let's just wait a little longer, things are so peaceful right now." Ron said, continuing the conversation we had been having.

"Ron." I said pointedly, I propped myself up on one elbow and turned my body so I could look directly into his face, he grinned from where he was lying next to me in the grass, he knew this was turning into a debate. "you keep putting this off! You have no more excuses! Fred's funeral is over, Harry's birthday has past, and your Mum is doing A LOT better. It's time! Stop stalling, I never said you have to come with me but I'm going!"

It had been two weeks since the battle at Hogwarts, and in my mind, two weeks too long for what I had in mind. The day after we had gotten home to the Burrow I had wanted to go to Australia after my parents, but we had Fred's funeral to think about, and then Harry's birthday. Ron had found reason after reason to put off this trip, but I wasn't going to be dissuaded any longer. I wanted to find my parents, I wanted to know they were safe.

"Hey…." Said Ron, pulling me down against him, I was momentarily distracted by the feel of his soft velvety skin against mine, no matter how many amazing moments we'd spent together over the past few weeks I could never get enough of him.

"I'm with you no matter what! When have I ever not had your back?" he said incredulously.

"S.P.E.W.?" I said with a raised eyebrow.

"Yeah well that was different!" he shot back, "Back then you were just an over zealous thirteen year old trying to give rights to creatures who didn't want them! ….But you were damn cute doing it." He added brushing his thumb across my cheek, "and I came around with elves like Dobby, who _wanted_ their freedom."

"I'll give you that one." I said with a small smile. Ron cupped my face in both his hands and kissed me slowly. It was my favorite kind of kiss, when he kissed me like that he made me feel like all the treasure in Gringotts couldn't compare to how precious I was. As he pulled away he sighed and lay back on the grass. He closed his eyes and stretched his long arms and legs.

Ron was the only boy I had ever seen naked, but I was fairly sure that no other one in the entire world could compare with how perfect he was. I watched the muscles in his arms and legs straining and smiled. I loved every inch of him, his shaggy red hair, his knobby knees, and his freckles. I had a secret mission to count every single one someday. I smiled at my own thoughts.

"What's so funny?" said Ron, rubbing my knee with his thumb.

"My brain." I said simply.

"Oh I could have told you that…" Ron said sarcastically.

"Ha. Ha." I said dryly, and I attacked him, tickling him and soon we were wrestling and laughing. Just then there was a rustling in the bushes to the right of us and Ron jumped violently. We both looked and a squirrel scampered out and up a tree. Ron immediately relaxed.

"Ron…. You know that I put up all the same protective spells around this clearing that we put on our tent last year. Even if someone where to happen upon the clearing they wouldn't find us even if they were to step right on top of us." I pointed out.

"Well yeah… but you can't blame me for feeling a bit…exposed." He said, looking around the clearing and then down at himself. I giggled.

"But that's what makes it fun… that hint of danger." I said with a mischievous smile, and I leapt on top of him.

A little while later I was lying in his arms while he twirled my hair around his finger. I ran a finger over the furrow between his eyebrows. I knew the look on his face, he was trying to figure out how to word his thoughts.

"Hermione…" he said quietly, "thank you…"

"For what?" I said, raising an eyebrow.

"For…." The furrow got deeper, "For… letting me be the person you let go with, the one person you can be completely free with. You don't know how much that means to me."

I looked into his face still tracing his features with my fingertips.

"And to think… I accused you of having the emotional range of a tea spoon." I said.

"oi! That reminds me!" said Ron, sitting up suddenly, "On that same note… I wrote something for you the other day!" He looked around and then scooted a few feet to the left so he could grab his jeans where they were lying in a bunch at the base of a tree. He rummaged in the pocket and pulled out a piece of parchment.

"and what is that?" I said rolling over on my stomach and propping myself up on my elbows.

"Remember when we were talking about our past in the Shell Cottage that night?" he said, and I nodded, "Well I decided to write you a list of all the special moments that stuck out to me since the day I met you." He shook the paper with flourish and began to read.

"Number one, when you suggested making the Polyjuice potion, and then actually did it and we pulled off the plan, I thought you were the smartest person I ever knew. Number two, when we saw you Petrified, and I realized if something were to happen to you and be devastated. Number three, when you held my hand on the train when the dementors came in, it was the first time I ever felt the need to protect you. Number four, the day you punched Malfoy in the face, it was the first time in my life I had ever consciously though of a girl as sexy." I blushed at the last one, but Ron just grinned and kept reading.

"Number five, when I saw you with Krum at the ball, because not only did you take my breath away with how beautiful you were. But because it was the first time that I ached for you to be mine and only mine. Number six, the time we almost kissed in Grimauld place. Number seven, the day after my dad got hurt when you walked in, you were the only thing I wanted in that moment. Number eight, the day sixth year when you told me you would forgive me for Lavender. Number nine, the day I found you and Harry again, and you took me back. Number nine, the night at Malfoy Manor." At this I wrinkled my eyebrows incredulously, but he simply put one finger up and motioned for me to wait.

"The night at Malfoy Manor," he repeated, "because when I heard you cry out, I knew in my heart there was nothing in the world I loved as much as you, and I would have given anything including my own life to save you."

My eyes were filled with happy tears, as I sat up and leaned in to kiss him but he placed his index finger on my lips and smiled.

"One more, saved the best for last. Number ten, my most precious memory. The moment you told me that you loved me, and I knew you were finally completely mine." He finished with a triumphant smile.

He leaned down to kiss me putting his hand behind my neck so and pulling me in passionately, I didn't resist I wound my fingers in his hair and responded with equal vigor.

"Hellllooooo….."

The voice broke the magic of our perfect moment; it was George, peeking around a tree his eyes scanning the clearing. My hands crossed instinctively over my chest even though I knew, and could see by the way his eyes vacantly roamed the clearing that we were still completely invisible.

"We _know_ you're here… Harry was under those spells last year too! We're not leaving until you come out! I will annoy you out of hiding I swear it!" George marched into the clearing followed by Harry, Ginny, and Charlie. Then to prove he wasn't bluffing he sat down on a large stump and began bellowing Wealey Is Our King, at the top of his voice.

"They're not leaving." Said Ron with an eye roll.

"I know…." I sighed and I grabbed my plum colored sun dress and pulled it over my head. I whipped my hair up into a messy pony tail, and looked over at Ron who was just buttoning his jeans. He picked up his Chudley Cannons t-shirt and pulled it over his head and then plopped down on the ground and leaned against the tree. I scooted over and settled myself against him with my head on his chest and then once I was sure we looked perfectly innocent I waived my wand to take away the spells.

"Ah, fancy seeing you here!" said George brightly as soon as the spells came down.

"And what have you two been up to? Discussing the delights of nature I'm sure." said Harry with an evil grin.

"However did you know mate?" said Ron grinning right back.

"Come on…" said Charlie, "Mum says lunch is on the table, and we're running out of excuses as to where you two got off to."

We all got up and headed back towards the Burrow. As we walked Ginny slipped her arm through mine.

"Any luck on the parent situation?" she said.

"We're going tomorrow, if we can get it worked out." I said.

"Oh good, I'm glad. I know you've been so anxious about it. Do you want Harry and I to come along?" she asked.

"Well… if it's all right with you, I think it should be just Ron and I. It'll be the first time Ron is meeting my parents as my boyfriend. And I'm going to have a lot to explain to them, you know?"

"Oh I completely understand." Said Ginny, as we walked into the backyard, "of course _she_ on the other hand…. May need some convincing." I looked up to see Mrs. Weasley standing on the back step with her hand on her hip.

"About time. The pumpkin juice is getting warm!" she said briskly.

We all crowded in around the table and each took a few chicken sandwiches, and a glass of pumpkin juice.

"Where have you two been all morning?" said Mrs. Weasley to Ron and I.

"We took a walk down to the village." Ron lied easily, "Hermione was showing me all sorts of interesting Muggle things that I'd never understood before. Which reminds me… dad?" Ron turned to his father who had popped home quickly for lunch with the family.

"Do you think you could have a word with Kingsley and see if the Australian Ministry of Magic can find a place for us to stay for the weekend? We're going to go find Hermione's parents." Ron finished.

"I don't see why that would bean issue at all, I'll speak with him as soon as I get back. When were you planning on heading out?" said Mr. Weasley, taking a swig of his juice.

"Tomorrow morning." I said.

"All right," said Mr. Weasley, "I'll make sure there are accommodations set up for the three of you."

"The two of us," I corrected, "Harry's not coming along it will be just Ron and I." out of the corner of my eye I saw Mrs. Weasley shoot me a look.

"Right then…" said Mr. Weasley, "Well I'm off Molly dear I'll be home for supper." With that he kissed Mrs. Weasley on the cheek and hurried back into the fireplace.

"Okay, who's up for Quidditch?" said Charlie, and all of us chimed in our enthusiasm, even though I was awful I did enjoy playing with the family, but as we all stood up Mrs. Weasley cleared her throat. We all stopped and looked at her curiously.

"I was hoping maybe you could stay in and help me with dinner Hermione… and we could have a chance to talk, just us girls." She said in an overly sweet voice.

None of us moved, we all stared at her and then slowly looked at each other in bewildered confusion, the awkward silence stretched on until I finally gave an uneasy, "ok…."

"On second thought… Ginny you should stay as well. Best to talk with you both…" said Mrs. Weasley.

Ginny jumped almost as if she'd been shocked, and gave Harry a startled pleading look that read, _help me! _but he just shrugged his shoulders helplessly. Ginny and I plopped back down into chairs at the table and shot furtive glances at the boys who were now shuffling awkwardly out the back door still staring warily at the back of their mothers head. We caught bit of their hushed conversation as the door swung shut behind them.

"What is she playing at?" muttered Ron.

"I dunno but whatever it is it does _not _bode well for you two." George answered him.

I wasn't sure if Mrs Weasley heard them or not, but if she did she paid them no mind. She turned to Ginny and I with a bright smile that seemed just a little off.

"So, shall we have some tea?" she said, her voice was still too sweet.

"Mum it's boiling hot outside…" said Ginny looking as confused and wary as I felt.

"Right… how about some lemonade then?" said Mrs. Weasley, and she turned to waive her wand at three glasses and they began to fill.

When her back was turned Ginny raised her eyebrows at me in a look that clearly said, _what in the hell is going on?_

I shook my head in response to indicate I had no idea. Then Mrs. Weasley turned back and set the glasses in front of each of us and took her own and then sat down at the end of the table and looked at us both.

"So…" she began, "how are you girls holding up. Things seem to be going rather well lately and let me tell you I am very grateful."

"We're great…." Said Ginny slowly, "no complaints here."

"Yes." I reiterated still thoroughly confused, "I'm the happiest I've been in a long time."

"Well I'm very glad to hear that. Things going well with Harry and Ron?" she asked innocently.

Ginny and I shared a look.

"Yes…." said Ginny.

"Lovely…" said Mrs. Weasley, she drew in a breath, and gripped her cup tightly. I was beginning to feel nervous, where could this possibly be going?

"Well I feel like it is my responsibility to talk to you two about some things… Hermione dear I know I'm not your mother, but I've come to think of you as my own daughter and I would feel remiss if I didn't make my concerns known." She continued looking at me kindly.

"You know how much I adore that you and Ron have found each other, I couldn't have asked for a more perfect young woman for my son, and Ginny dear you know we love Harry like our own, and I am so happy you chose such a wonderful man. But now that you are growing up, there are some things that I need to discuss with you, as women." She said.

"Ohhhh…. Mum really?" groaned Ginny flopping her head on the table.

"Honestly Ginny this is just as uncomfortable for me as it is for you! But we need to discuss it!" said Mrs. Weasley, her face flushing red.

I was still confused, I looked from Ginny to her mum, wondering what they could be talking about. Still blushing Mrs. Weasley turned her attention back to me.

"Hermione love, you are very smart and sensible girl. So I'm sure you have already considered and understand, that Ron is a young man, and especially now that you two will be going to Australia alone together, that as a young man Ron has certain…desires." She finished.

It was my turn to blush, I felt the heat rush into my face as I realized what this conversation was about, and a twinge of guilt because I knew it was about two weeks too late.

"O-oh." I fumbled, "Well…. Umm… y-yes Mrs. Weasley I-I mean… I.."

"Mum… Hermione and I both learned about the birds and the bees _ages_ ago. You and I had this talk when I was _twelve_!" Ginny jumped in saving me from my mortification.

"Yes I know. But it is different now that you are both grown and in serious relationships!" Mrs. Weasley said sternly, sounding much more like herself, "I just want to make sure that if you do decide to…. Take the next step in your relationship; you are both prepared on how to do it properly."

"Well we are." Said Ginny quickly, "We taught ourselves the spell over a year ago just so we were prepared."

"Oh…." Said Mrs. Weasley, "Well…. Very good then."

There was a long awkward silence in which I focused very hard on a knot in the wood on the table top.

"Sooooo can we go now?" said Ginny to her mother.

"Yes, go ahead." She said, sounding flustered. Ginny stood and grabbed my arm, half pulling me out of my chair and towards the stairs. We half ran half stumbled our way up to her room and she slammed them door.

"Oh…my…god." She said leaning against the closed door and looked wide eyed at me.

"I..I…I…" I was sputtering, but I couldn't make words come out. Ginny nodded and flopped onto her bed and put her arms over her face, I slumped down onto my bed and sat cross legged facing her.

"Well… at least now we know what 'on their minds' in case they try something…" said Ginny using air quotes. She looked at me and smirked, I felt the corners of my mouth turn up unwillingly and tried to keep down a giggle but it bubbled out, and a moment later we were both laughing hysterically.

"You should have seen your face when she mentioned Ron's _desires!"_ Ginny gasped through her laughter, and she purred the last word wriggling her eyebrows.

"Oh God…" I said, still shaking with laughter, "I seriously wanted to sink through the floor! Where's Harry's invisibility cloak when you need it!"

"What about my cloak?" said Harry, walking through the door of Ginny's room, "and what you two on about? Did we miss the joke?"

"Did you ever!" roared Ginny, as he came and lay next to her on the bed. Ron followed him in and sat down behind me enveloping me in his arms. I lay my head back against him, and felt whole again.

"So what the bloody hell was that business with Mum about?" said Ron.

"Oh just you wait until we tell you!" said Ginny with an evil grin, and I groaned and buried my face into Ron's shoulder as she launched in the re telling.


	14. Chapter 10

"I told you to wear a sweater Ronald!" I snapped as we hurried down the busy street in Sydney.

"I didn't think you were being serious! It's the middle of June for Christ's sake!" Ron shot back rubbing his bare arms.

"Sydney is in the Southern hemisphere! The seasons are reversed! And anyways don't be such a baby it's barely below fifty degrees!" I said, and I took his hand, "Once we get to the Inn I'll get you out a sweater, I packed you a bunch." I said rolling my eyes but smiling.

We pulled our rolling luggage up to a quaint looking brick building with a small sign that read, The Nereid Inn. I could tell by the way the Muggle's eyes travelled from the bookshop to the left of the building to the small restaurant advertising it's Friday fish fry, on the right, that this Inn was like the Leaky Cauldron, invisible to all non magical peoples.

"Nay-reed…. What the hell is a nay-reed?" said Ron quizzically looking up at the sign.

"It's pronounced _near-ee-id, _Ron." I corrected, "it's a sea nymph."

"Oh cool…" he said as we lugged our bags over the door step, "still don't see why we have to lug these ruddy wheeled things around." He grumbled.

"Because we might look a bit conspicuous having a levitating trunk in front of us walking down the street!" I snapped, I knew I was being short with him, but I was terribly nervous. I knew by this time tomorrow I would probably be seeing my parents. It had been a year, what if they were terribly angry with me? What if they didn't forgive me?

"Hermione?" Ron had brought me back to the present, "What do you think?"

"About what?" I said, looking up, I had been so engrossed in my thoughts I had completely missed the greeting from a sweet looking little witch with fluffy blond hair.

"I was just asking Mr. Weasley here if you would like a bay view, or a garden view for your room." She said with her thick Australian accent.

"oh! Ummm… a bay view please." I said.

"Very well then, follow me please." She led us down a hallway with dark wooden floors to the fourth door on the left, "Please make yourselves at home, dinner will be served at seven o clock." With that she turned and headed back down the hall.

The room was warm and inviting. You could tell that the Inn was going for a very authentic Australian feel, the floor was the same dark brown wood but there was a large area rug made out of some soft tan colored animal fur, the walls were stucco and the ceiling had exposed beams, the bed itself was a four posted king with deep blue blankets. There was a bathroom to the right and on the wall above the bed was a mural of kangaroos hopping across the open planes. I unzipped the front of my suitcase and pulled out my brush and then headed for the bathroom. The Flu Network always did a number on my hair. As I wrestled with the knots I felt the nerves growing in my stomach again, I had no idea what I would say to my parents. How could I ever explain this?

"Mione, you have to come see this!" Ron said poking his head through the door, he grabbed my hand and pulled me into the next room. He had opened the curtains behind which were sliding glass doors which lead to a small balcony with a breathtaking view of Sydney Harbor.

"Look at that crazy thing over there!" Ron said pointing across the Harbor, "what do you reckon that thing is? It looks like a mini castle gone wrong!"

"That's the Sydney opera house." I giggled, "it's used to put on sort of singing plays."

"Bloody strange…." Said Ron.

"It's meant to be abstract…." I explained with a smile.

"If you say so…" he said and he slipped his arms around my waist pulling me against him. I rested my head against his chest and closed my eyes.

"Mione…." He said into my hair after a few moments.

"Hmmmm…." I answered serenely.

"They're going to forgive you… you did it to protect them. You saved the world, they are going to be so proud of you…" he said.

My heart skipped a beat as I turned to look at him. I hadn't said a word to him, I hadn't needed to. Ron knew my doubts and fears, without me ever expressing them. He sometimes knew me better than I knew myself. I put a hand on his cheek and stood on my tip toes to kiss him.

"Thank you." I said softly.

"Anytime Miss Granger." He said, with a smile.

I was drumming my fingers on the table nervously and staring at the telephone in my hand. I had to walk next door to the Muggle book shop because the Inn didn't have any telephones. I took a deep breath and punched in the numbers.

"_Information." _said a woman's voice.

"I'm looking for the phone number and address of someone living in Sydney." I said.

"_What's the name?"_

"W-Wilkins. Wendell and Monica Wilkins." I stammered, my heart pounding.

"_Righty, we got three Wendell Wilkins in the greater Sydney area. You gotta pen and paper handy?"_

I wrote down the three numbers and addresses and thanked the woman before hanging up the phone. I looked down at the paper in my hand, and only then did I realize that I was shaking. Just then I felt a hand on my shoulder.

"You didn't think I was gonna let you do this alone did you?" said Ron, and he sat down beside me.

I picked up the phone and punched in the first number, with each ring my stomach tightened.

"'_Ello? Wendell 'ere." _ Said a deep Australian accent.

"Sorry wrong number!" I said quickly and hung up, I took a deep shuddering breath. Ron squeezed my hand and I typed in the next number, my anticipation growing.

"_Hello?" _my breath caught in my lungs, "_Hello is anyone there? Hello?" _I quickly hung up the phone, just those few seconds of my mother's voice had brought tears to my eyes. I looked up at Ron, and his face lit up.

"That was them?" he said excitedly, all I could do was nod and smile.

"What are we waiting for let's go!" said Ron enthusiastically.

"Tomorrow" I said quietly, "It's a Saturday so they are sure to both be there, and I need a little time. To prepare myself."

"Tomorrow." Ron agreed and he wrapped an arm around my waist and we walked back to the Inn.

Hours later I was pacing the room. I knew my decision to wait until the next morning was the right one, but I was still climbing the walls. I kicked the edge of the bed in annoyance making Ron jump.

"Hermione… I love you, but if you don't stop that bloody pacing I just might have to stun you." He said with a slight glare.

"I can't help it Ron! I'm crawling out of my skin here!" I said exasperatedly.

"What you need is a distraction." said Ron pointedly.

"Like what?" I said waspishly, "it's too late to go out, and I'm far too nervous to read any of my books!"

"I've got just the thing! I saw it in the lobby!" said Ron, he bolted out the door and was back in just a few moments.

"Ta da! Chess!" he said, flourishing the board in front of me. I glared at him.

"How is chess supposed to make me feel better? I'm dreadful at it." I said.

"You're only dreadful when you don't care enough to strategize. Mind you even when you are strategizing you're no where near as good as me." he winked, "but you're pretty decent."

"and what about this situation makes you think I have the capacity to care about chess right now!" I said, my voice getting slightly screechy.

"One word my love…. Incentives. We'll make a wager…." Ron said with a smile.

"What kind of wager….? We haven't any extra money!" I said, but already my curiosity was getting the better of my nerves and I could feel myself calming down.

"You'll have to play to find out…" Ron said with a sinister grin, as he put the chess board in the middle of the bed. I looked at him warily but finally acquiesced and walked around the bed to take up a spot across from him.

"Knight to A 4" I said, about five minutes later. The game had been fairly uneventful so far, the devious look on Ron's face had been enough of a motivation for me to try and win, and so far neither of us had taken a piece, but at that exact moment my knight drove his lance brutally through Ron's pawn and it crumpled. Ron began to slowly and exaggeratedly untie his trainer and then made a show of holding it up by the laces and grinning at me before dropping it on the floor.

"_Strip _chess? Ronald Bilius Weasley!" I said in my best impersonation of his mother. He just grinned his most devilish grin.

"What's the matter scared Granger?" he said.

"You wish." I shot back.

A half an hour later I was sitting on the bed in nothing but my under clothes. Ron on the other hand while shirtless, still had his pants and his socks. As he had pointed out before even when I was decent I was no match for him.

"Check." Said Ron, as his bishop dragged my rook off the board, his voice had taken on the soft seductive tone that I loved so much and he was looking at me in a way that made my skin flush. I gave him my most playful look as I slipped my bra strap off my shoulder but with my other hand I reached up and pulled the elastic out of my hair letting it fall down around my shoulders.

"Ha!" I said smugly, and I flicked the hair tie at him.

"Not fair….." he growled.

"Patience is a virtue." I replied, as I moved my king to safety.

"Well then I guess I'm not too virtuous. Bishop to C5." said Ron, the bishop beheaded my queen, and then turned to my king who bowed. "Checkmate." In one motion Ron pushed the chessboard off the bed and lifted me up. I heard the chess pieces clattering across the floor as my head hit the pillows and Ron pinned my arms above my head with his own.

It was an hour later when I finally looked at the clock on the night stand next to the bed.

"So… still feeling stressed about tomorrow." Ron said, his breathing was still a bit ragged.

"No…." I sighed, "Now I'm too tired to be stressed" I said with a grin.

"Haha! see… my brilliant plan has succeeded." He said punching the air, and I laughed.

"You may need to come up with a new plan Ron…" I said resting, my head on his chest, "because I hate to break it to you darling, but I doubt even you have enough energy to go three rounds with me every time I get stressed."

"You make a good point." said Ron, yawning widely.

"Ok time for bed." I said and I made to get up.

"What are you doing silly… we're _in_ bed." said Ron.

"I can't sleep naked… it feels odd." I said

"Are you serious?" Ron propped himself up on his elbow to look at me.

"Yes I'm serious! Don't make fun of me!"

"I'm not… you're adorable." He said with a grin. I glared at him, gathered up my night clothes and headed into the bathroom. I went about my evening ritual of washing my face and combing my hair, as I twisted my hair up into the messy bun I wore when I slept I couldn't help but notice the rosiness in my cheeks and how clear and smooth my skin looked. It must be the after glow I heard girls talk about, I could get used to that. I slipped on the little green cotton camisole that I had brought to sleep in and opened the bathroom door. Ron saw me and his eyes got wide.

"Blimey… that's your pajama's?" he said in awe.

"Yes… what's wrong with them?" I said self consciously.

"Absolutely nothing! You look amazing!" said Ron, and he was so earnest I blushed.

I walked over and tucked myself under the blankets beside him. He had put back on his boxers to sleep and he pulled me close. I rested my head on his chest, and closed my eyes letting myself be soothed by the sound of his breathing.

"I love you Ron." I said.

"I love you more…" he said sleepily, and he ruffled the hair on the top of my head. I smiled and closed my eyes. As I drifted in to sleep, my last thought was that no matter what the next day held, I knew I would never be alone.

I walked down the street holding the paper in front of me. I was counting house numbers. Only four more to go. Twenty two, Twenty three, twenty four, and there it was, number twenty five Cresent Drive. I looked at Ron who was standing next to me and then back at the small blue house.

"You ready for this?" he said.

"Yes, I'm ready." I said, and we walked towards the door. I reached for the door bell, I hesitated.

"Ron…. What if they…." I looked at him with tears in my eyes.

"They _love_ you." He said pointedly. I nodded, took a deep breath, wiped the tears away and rang the door bell. After a moment, my mother answered the door.

"Hello. May I help you?" she said, looking at both Ron and I with vacant expressions. I smiled and launched into the speech I had rehearsed.

"Hello Mrs. Wilkins, I'm sorry to bother you on a Saturday morning but we're with the Neighborhood Watch Committee, we're just going around the neighborhood doing a quick survey on what how the residents feel about the security measures in place. Would you mind if we ask you and your husband just a few quick questions?"

"Not at all." My mother said brightly, "Won't you please come in?"

We walked into the brightly lit home. I recognized so many of the things, our sofa, the dining room table that I'd eaten at since I was a baby, even my grandma's old rocker. At that moment my father walked down the hall. I had missed him so much I wanted to jump into his arms but I knew I had to restrain myself.

"Monica… who are these lovely young people?" said my dad.

"Ron Weasely and Hermione Granger sir." Said Ron holding his hand to shake my father's, "we're with the Neighborhood Watch just wanted to ask you a few questions about how you feel about your security here."

"Ah right then… go ahead." He said.

"Umm… well do you feel that you are being well protected in this neighborhood?" Ron asked lamely.

My parents looked at each other in confusion before looking back at Ron. I quickly slipped my wand out of my back pocket and with one last deep breath I muttered the counter spell. My parents face both glazed over for a moment and then suddenly became clear again, and to my enormous relief they looked at us both with complete recognition.

"Hermione…Ron…" said my father slowly looking at each of our faces and then around the room, "what's going on? Where are we?"

I didn't hesitate I flew in my father's arms and he wrapped his around me tightly.

"Daddy." I sobbed, "Oh Daddy I missed you so much! I love you, and you too Mum!" I grabbed her arm and pulled her in so we were all hugging.

"We love you too Hermy Wormy." He said, using the nickname he had giving me as a little girl, I usually hated it when he used it, but today it was the most wonderful thing I had ever heard, "but what in the world is going on?"

"I think we'd all better sit down." Said Ron, he was standing a few feet back quietly watching our reunion. I took a seat on the couch between my two parents hold a hand of each and Ron sat in the recliner to our left.

"What is the last thing you all remember?" Ron asked, I was glad he was taking the initiative I was still overcome with just having them with me again.

"Hermione telling us there was danger, and we would have to go away for awhile." My dad said patting my hand, "then the next thing I remember is you two standing there. What happened? Did someone get us, was it that bad man that I heard Hermione talk about sometimes. The one you don't name?"

"No… trust me. If he had gotten you. You wouldn't be here to talk about it." Said Ron gravely.

"It was me," I hiccupped, and both of them turned to look at me, "I had to go away, with Harry and Ron, to fight Voldemort, that was his name by the way Voldemort. I knew you'd never let me go, and what's more important I had to protect you. I knew if I wiped your memories of me and sent you far enough away, Voldemort would never find you. That was one year ago."

"A year….wait a moment you did _what_?" gasped my mother.

"I'm sorry Mum. I'm so sorry!" I pleaded, "Please understand I had to protect you, they were after Harry and I am his best friend. It was only a matter of time before they came for you, I couldn't let that happen! I always planned on coming back for you."

"Sweetheart… calm down." My father said gently stroking my hair, "we're not angry. We just wish there was someway you could have told us. Someway we could have helped, I hate the idea of you going through that alone."

"I wasn't alone." I said fervently, looking up at Ron, who met my gaze reassuringly.

"Wait you said was." My mother spoke up suddenly.

"What?" I said turning my attention to her.

"The bad man, you said his name _was_ Voldemort." My mother clarified.

"Yes… he's dead. Harry defeated him." I said.

"No." said Ron sharply and we all looked at him, "Harry dealt the final blow, but we all defeated him. Mr. and Mrs. Granger I want you to know that in the past year your daughter has shown more bravery and courage in the face of insurmountable odds than you could imagine. She never gave up even when situations were most bleak. She always kept her head, even when the world was quite literally crashing down. She saved the lives of countless people, she is the most amazing woman I have ever known." Ron took my hand as he finished, tears were streaming down my face again. I looked up and my dad's eyes were damp as well.

"Never had doubt." He whispered and he kissed the top of my head.

"So… where exactly are we?" said my mother looking around.

"We're in Sydney." I said timidly.

"Australia?" said my mother.

"I told you I had to make sure you were far enough away!" I defended.

"Apparently…." said my father with a smirk.

"So… how do we propose we get home?" my mother said.

"Ron and I can have your things packed magically in about a half hour, and we've arranged to have it sent home by magical means in the morning. You will be coming with us via the Flu Network." I explained.

"I hate that ruddy thing…." grumbled my father, "it always makes me sick."

"It's better than a 17 hour plane ride." I said, and he shrugged but nodded.

"Well if that's about it I think I'll go see what sort of food we keep in this house." My mother said, and she began to stand up.

"Wait a moment there is one more, small thing." I said.

"Oh good lord I don't think I can take much more…." said my father with an amused eye roll.

"Well this is good news… I hope." I said and I moved over to perch on Ron's knee and he slipped his arm around my waist and looked shyly at my parents.

"Ron and I are together now." I said simply.

"About damn time!" said my father immediately.

"Hugo!" scolded my mother slapping his arm, but Ron grinned.

"Oh come off it Jean! They've been smitten with each other since they were kids!" my father retorted.

"He's right Mrs. Granger we really have…." said Ron with a wink in my Mom's direction. She gave him a small smile while still glaring at her husband.

"Look…" said my Dad still smiling and shaking his head, "Hermione, is he the bloke for you?"

"Absolutely." I answered instantly , "I love him."

"There you have it." Said my dad slapping his knee, "That's all I needed to hear. Hermione, you never make any choice without thinking through every single angle and weighing every single pro and con. It's just your nature. So if you say Ron's your bloke, that's how it is."

"Thank you Daddy!" I said, jumping up to hug him again.

"We couldn't be more pleased love." Said my mother patting my hair, "You know we absolutely adore Ron." She smiled at him as she said the last part.

"Now lets go see what's in the refrigerator, Hermy Wormy!" said my dad, "and hope to god we haven't developed a taste for vegemite!"

"Good God I've missed London!" said my father sticking his head out the window of the cab and taking a deep breath.

"You don't even remember being away! In your mind you were here two days ago." I pointed out to him.

"Well yes in my conscious mind… but something in my subconscious can sense it's been awhile, and it's good to be home." He said as we began to cross the Thames heading back towards our house.

I rolled my eyes at Ron who sniggered slightly at my father's antics. When we finally pulled into our driveway I felt as if my heart would burst from all the happiness inside it. This was my final piece, my family was home. They were safe and happy and home! We walked through the front door and my mother let out a small gasp of shock.

"How on earth did you get everything set up so quickly?" she said.

The house was exactly the way it had always been, each piece of furniture and picture back in it's place.

"That's the beauty of magic." I said with a smile, "Oh and by the way, I spoke with your office. They are very pleased to hear that you have returned from your year abroad with Doctors without Borders, and can't wait to hear about all your experiences bring dental care to remote locations, when you go back to work on Monday." I winked.

"Well… it looks like you took care of everything didn't you." Said my mother with admiration, she came over and put her arms around me, she tucked my hair behind my ear and placed a hand on my cheek, "When did my baby girl become such a beautiful woman?" she said softly.

"I love you Mum…" I said and I hugged her fiercely.

"Now you promise, that we'll see you often." said my Dad coming to hug me as well.

"Once a week at least!" I said hugging him tightly.

"and you don't be a stranger either Ron!" added my mother.

"Oh I'm not planning on it." said Ron with a grin.

We all hugged one more time and then my parents took a step back so that Ron and I could Apparate back to the Burrow. When we landed in the backyard we saw Ginny and Harry sitting under a tree in the garden. They jumped up when they saw us and ran to us smiling.

"How'd it go Hermione?" said Harry excitedly.

"Brilliantly! We found them the second day, I restored their memories and we already have them moved back home. They were a little shook up at first but once we explained they were perfectly fine!" I explained breathlessly and I beamed at him.

"Hermione that's wonderful!" said Harry enthusiastically and he swooped me into a hug swinging me around in a circle. He sat me back down and Ginny hugged me as well.

"We're so glad to have you back. We missed you!" she said.

"Yeah tell me about it, I've been itching for someone decent to play chess against!" said Harry looking at Ron, "What? What did I say?" he asked looking confused. For at that precise moment Ron and I had collapsed into a fit of laughter.


	15. Chapter 11

We were all sitting around the kitchen table in a heated debate. The all in question was George, Ginny, and I. Ginny and I had a fit of girlish whimsy and had decided to bake chocolate chip cookies. George had wandered in about ten minutes later and started up a conversation whilst helping here and there.

"That's bullocks! The only reason she has as much notoriety as she does is because she's a girl!" challenged George brandishing his wand at Ginny and sending chocolate chips across the table.

"Less arguing! More stirring!" I chided in amusement, as I pushed George's wand hand back towards the mixing bowl.

"That is so sexist!" snapped Ginny, as she waived her wand and three eggs cracked themselves into the bowl. "Gwenog Jones and the Harpies are one of the best teams in the league!"

"I'm not arguing that!" shot back George, "I'm just saying there's other captains and teams equally if not more competent who don't get in the news because they're not the only all girl's team in the league!"

"Hermione what do you think?" Ginny said suddenly, turning to where I was heating the oven with my wand. I was caught off guard as I looked into their expectant faces.

"Oh no… I am _not_ taking sides in this…" I said raising my hands in surrender.

"Oh come on…" groaned George, "What's the point of getting a new sister if she won't even side with me on things!"

I felt my cheeks grow hot at the proclamation George had just made. I looked up at him with a grateful smile but he just threw me a quick wink and then went back to his argument with Ginny.

"Fine," Ginny continued, "I still maintain that the Harpies are one of the top teams, but I'll give you that Gwenog has been a bit full of herself lately."

"A bit?" scoffed George, "Ever since she got that in-depth exclusive with the Witch Weekly she's been a down right spotlight hogging bitch!"

"GEORGE RUPERT WEASLEY!" screeched Mrs. Weasley as she bustled through the door smacking her son on the back of his head, "Don't you ever let me hear you using that kind of language again!"

To my surprise George turned in his seat to look at his Mum and raised an eyebrow.

"And umm… what kind of language would that be Mum? Is this one of those do as I say not as I do moments?" he was smirking.

"Excuse me?" said Mrs. Weasley putting her hands on her hips, but I could see her cheeks were slightly flushed.

"Refresh my memory Gin… what was it that Mum said to Bellatrix at the battle when she tried to kill you? Hmmmm let me think…." George made a show of scratching his chin and tapping his temple as though he were deep in thought while his mother turned steadily redder, Ginny was grinning and barely suppressing giggles finally George continued,

"Wasn't it something along the lines of….'Not my daughter you….' What was the last part Gin?"

"I believe dear brother it was, 'not my daughter you _bitch_'" said Ginny sitting up and speaking in her most formal voice, and then the three of us collapsed into giggles.

"That-was-not-the-same." Said Mrs. Weasley, swatting George with and oven mitt between each word, "there is a time and a place, and may I say it a certain type of individual who deserves that type of language!"

"Oh believe me Mrs. Weasley we know…" I said, still chuckling, but I stopped as I continued, "If anyone deserved it, it was Bellatrix…. She was a fowl, loathsome, vile…."

"Bitch." finished a voice from the doorway. We all jerked our heads up to see none other than Kingsley Shacklebolt and Professor McGonagall, the latter of which had finished my sentence.

"Did that really just happen…." Said George in awe, "Did _you_ really just…"

"Yes Mr. Weasley," said McGonagall a slight smile playing at the edges of her lips, "believe it or not I too have learned a few choice words in my many years and like your mother, find there are those in this world deserving of their title." She then turned back to Mrs. Weasley.

"We very sorry to intrude Molly dear, but we were wondering if we might have a word with Ms. Granger and the young gentleman." She continued.

"Of course! The boys are in the other room. Hermione why don't you go tell them that you have company?"

Mrs. Weasley nodded towards me and I hopped up to go and tell Harry and Ron. Kingsley and McGonagall followed behind me, leaving George sitting at the table still staring open mouthed at McGonagall like she was about to sprout wings and fly out the window. I was feeling slightly nervous, not having any idea what this might be about. I walked into the sitting room where Harry and Ron were playing chess. Kingsley and McGonagall said their greetings, and then they asked us to have a seat. We took up a place on the couch and waited expectantly.

"Well, let's get down to it then," said McGonagall, "we have come here to discuss your futures. I would like you to know that Hogwarts will be opening on schedule this September, and you three are more than welcome to come back and finish your last year of N.E.W.T.S. with Miss Weasley's class we have created a slightly more intensive curriculum to make up for the lack of proper instruction that was given last year." Her nostrils flared in anger as she spoke, but she recovered and went on. "The Minister also wanted to inform you of another option open to you as well."

Kingsley leaned forward to speak to us.

"As you know the Ministry is very grateful to the three of you for all you have done for the Wizarding World, and you have proven yourself to be very skilled and mature especially for your age. Therefore the ministry is willing to offer you any job that you are qualified to take, and put you in training programs for any job you may aspire to. Obviously we would be willing to put you in the Auror training program right away if you choose, and if you would like any other job, all you need do is come to the ministry and ask to speak with me about it."

He smiled kindly and stood up.

"Well I believe that's about all. I hope you have a wonderful day. I am at your disposal anytime you wish." He tipped his hat and then he and Professor McGonagall turned and left.

Ron's face was aglow with excitement.

"Bloody hell! Any job we want! In the whole Ministry, I bet you could even be put on the fast track to being the next Minister of Magic if you wanted!" Ron said to Harry.

"OH yeah…" said Harry, rolling his eyes… "That's just what I'd want…"

I watch them converse and chuckled slightly but I was relieved. This hadn't ever really even been a decision for me. Ginny and I had already been discussing the classes we wanted to take in our seventh year, I had decided before I ever left on that crazy journey with Harry that if I made it out alive I would finish my education properly. Now the only big question seemed, would I be doing so with Ron? It seemed that Harry and Ron were still thoroughly on the fence about which direction they would take. I left them to their discussion and said I was going to go finish the cookies.

"I'll come help!" said Ron, "It's about time I learned how to do something in the kitchen besides make a cup of tea.

"Yeah I think I'll come too." Said Harry jumping up and throwing an arm over my shoulders, I smiled at them both and we headed for the kitchen.

"So can you bloody believe it?" gasped Fred as we entered, he and Ginny were already making balls out of the dough and placing it on the cookie sheets.

"Believe what that we get to choose between school or working at the Ministry?" said Harry looking confused.

"You do?" said Ginny, "Wow that so amazing!"

"Yeah yeah yeah… brilliant," mumbled George, "but what about McGonagall?"

"What about her?" said Ron.

"Hermione! You didn't tell them?" George scolded.

"Good God George it's not that interesting!" said Ginny with an eye roll.

"We'll see what they think." Said George smugly before turning back to the boys, "McGonagall _swore_."

"WHAT?" they both shouted in unison, and George launched into a re-telling while I joined Ginny to help finish the cookies.

"Elizabeth was surprised, however, that Wickham should consent to such a scheme; and, had she consulted only her own inclination, any meeting with him would have been the last object of her wishes." Ron finished the sentence and then closed my tattered book placing it on his night stand.

"Seriously Elizabeth Bennett needs to get some sense! Obviously Mr. Darcy loves her! She's just too proud to admit she was wrong! Now she mucking about with Wickham…" Ron crossed his arms and looked agitated at the foot of his bed.

"Now now… who was it that said my romance books were just nonsense, sounds like someone is getting invested in the story…" I teased and I kissed his jaw just below his ear, I spot that I had discovered was quite sensitive. He leaned into my touch and relaxed.

"Kind of impossible not to get someone invested we've been reading the bloody thing every night for two weeks…." He sighed as I continued to kiss up and down his jaw line.

We had made reading a nightly ritual, I would pick the book and Ron would read to me. I was a perfect scenario for me, because not only did I get to share some of my long acknowledged passions with the man I loved. I got the perfect combination of my two favorite things in the world, my priceless books, being read by the beautiful sweet voice I could listen to for the rest of my life and never tire of.

"I'm just saying," said Ron burying his hands in my hair and twisting it up off my neck, "If Pride and Prejudice is such a classic, you'd think the people would be a bit smarter…"

"Pride and Prejudice is a classic…" I said matter-of-factly as I threw my leg over his so I was sitting in his lap facing him, "It's a story about two stubborn, and flawed people making all the wrong choices and still finding each other."

"I think I know that story…" said Ron smiling as he rested his hands on my hips, "guys a complete tosser, who only thinks about himself and takes the girl for granted because he doesn't know how to tell her what he really wants."

"and a girl who's prideful, always wanting to be perfect, and always pushing away the man she truly loves so that he never gets the chance to really hurt her…" I continued brushing his bangs out of his eyes.

"How could two people like that ever end up together forever?" said Ron rubbing his thumb down my jaw line.

"No idea." I whispered, and then he pulled me to his chest and began kissing me. His hands were on the small of my back and I could feel him moving them steadily downward when all of a sudden…..

"You might want to watch those roaming hands little brother… if Mum ever catches you two she might just cut them off." George was leaning on the door frame grinning evilly.

"Bloody hell!" gasped Ron as we jumped apart, in his surprise Ron pushed me off of him and I ended up in a pile on the bed next to him. "How long were you standing there?"

"Not too long, just caught the tail end of the show…. Or was that the prelude?" teased George.

"We were reading." I grabbed the book of the night stand as proof, "Pride and Prejudice."

"Right…right… well Mum just sent me up to tell you all that it's late and you should all be headed back to your respective rooms. So if you plan on doing anymore _reading_ I suggest you do it with the door locked and a Muffliato charm in place. I'm sure Harry and Ginny have already done both. Goodnight little ones." With a wink George bowed out of them room closing the door with flourish.

"That man is a menace!" I said with an eye roll.

"To tell you the truth I'm kinda glad it was him. If it was Mum we would have had to go through the trouble of pretending to go to our separate rooms and Apparating back…." Said Ron with a chuckle.

I waived my wand at the door locking it and then cast the muffliato charm as well. Ron waited for me to snuggle under the covers next to him before picking up his Diluminator from where it sat next to the book on the night stand and clicking it once to pull the tiny light from his lamp.

"George has been sleeping over a lot lately…" I said softly as I lay my head on Ron's chest.

"Yeah…. I don't think he can face being in the shop for very long periods of time, much less the apartment over it… he puts on a good front George, but he's hopelessly lost without…." Ron trailed off.

"Without Fred." I finished, putting a hand on his chest in comfort, and he covered it with his own.

"It's still hard to wrap my mind around you know…. Him being gone… it's like he's on holiday or something… I still can't make myself believe I'll never hear his laugh again…" Ron was speaking softly now as well.

"I know love…" I lifted my head and stretched to kiss him.

"What would I do without you Hermione Granger?" he asked with a smile, his perfect blue eyes looking deeply into mine.

"Let's not find that out?" I said with a smile.

"Sounds like a plan…" he replied.

Ron held our intertwined hands up into the shaft of silvery moonlight that trickled in through his window. He traced each of my slender fingers with his own, and then gently ran his index finger across the lines on my palm.

"So back to school for you Miss Granger…." He said, changing the subject, "as if there was ever a doubt."

" I know I could do whatever I want… but it just wouldn't feel right not finishing my education…" I replied.

"what about me…" he said, "you wouldn't think any less of me if I took a job right now would you?"

I propped myself up on my elbows to look at him.

"Of course I wouldn't! That's just my own personal decision, whatever you choose you do what's right for you….Is that what you're thinking then? That you want to work for the Ministry." I caressed his face as I spoke.

"Dunno…." He said, he stretched on his back and put his arms behind his head looking at the ceiling as he thought, "On the one hand… school has only ever been a means to an end for me and Kingsley made it pretty clear today that I've achieved that end."

"That he did." I agreed and I once again kissed the spot below his ear he loved so much, but this time I continued kissing down his neck.

"but a year away from you would be hell…. That might be incentive enough to get me to go back…" he finished. I had kissed my way down to his collar bone at that point so I sat up to look into his face.

"Ron… we won't be away from each other no matter what. I won't let it happen, so don't let that effect your decision."

"Yes Mame." He said with a grin, "but you know it's not as if I have to decide right this second."

"That's very true." I said, "and there are so many other things that can take precedence at the moment." I added with a devilish smile.

"Such as?" said Ron.

"Such as…." I whispered in his ear and then proceeded to kiss my way down his neck and across his chest, when I got to his belly button he drew a deep breath and I looked up at him with and satisfied smirk .

"'Mione when did you become such a devilish little minx?" he breathed.

"When I found something in the prefect's bathroom that I can't get enough of." I replied sensually, and I continued my trail of kisses.

Ron let his head fall back on his pillow and closed his eyes.

I felt a tickling sensation on my shoulder and looked over to see that a leaf had fallen from the tree I was sitting under and landed on my shoulder. I chuckled to myself thinking that Ron would have most likely jumped out of his skin thinking it was a spider. I knew I was going to have to be the brave spider slayer in our family. I grinned at the thought, our family…. It was an idea that seemed almost too perfect to be true.

I flipped the page in my copy of Standard Book of Spells Grade 6, and looked at the next charm. _Occaeco Occupo, _it was a charm to give oneself temporary invisibility. It was a charm we had not practiced much with Flitwick, and we had no practical use for it in the real world so far because of Harry's Invisibility Cloak, but I was beginning to realize as I re read my books how rusty I was at my spell work and it frightened me. We were going to pick up our new school books in Diagon Alley within a matter of days while looking through my old books, I felt as though I was hopelessly behind. I was studying the wand movement for the charm in question when a shadow fell across my book. I squinted up into the sunlight and made out the tall figure that I differentiated only by his horned rim glasses.

"Percy!" I said happily, "We haven't seen you in over a week! What brings you to the Burrow?"

Percy took a seat next to me on the lawn and smiled. I had always enjoyed Percy's company much more than Harry, Ron, or Ginny. Percy was much more uptight than the other Weasley's. He was a very ambitious person and tended to be a bit high strung at times, and even though he had lost his way for awhile being caught up in the Ministry propaganda, I had always admired his drive. Prefect, Head Boy, and youngest assistant to the Minister in years, Percy and I were very alike and I knew he had the same warm Weasley heart as the others; it just took a kindred spirit to really appreciate it.

"I was one assignment in Brighton, Dad asked me to pop in and tell Mum he'll be a bit late for dinner. Moving up quickly in the ranks Dad is, ever since Kingsley became Minister Dad has been invaluable to him. Anyway I saw you out here in the garden thought I'd say hello. What are you reading?" Percy peered over my shoulder.

"Ah…." He said with a smile, "brushing up on our spell work I see… not that you really need it but best to be prepared. You're like me, no such thing as too much study."

"I just want to be sure I'm ready…." I said.

"Oh you'll be brilliant Hermione. I can't think of a time you _haven't _been brilliant since the day that I met you. You can achieve absolutely anything you put your keen and penetrating mind to, and I know that you are going to waste no time making a name for yourself. It's in your nature… just like me." Percy squared his shoulders at this last statement. I knew both Ron and Harry would see this as him being pompous but I understood, he was driven and determined to be something, and I respected him for it.

"You know…" Percy continued with a smile, "If you had been a few years older I probably would have tried to win you for myself… we would have been quite the unstoppable pair you and I."

I felt my face turn bright red, I was not used to boys telling me I was in anyway desirable.

"Oh don't blush I'm just stating the facts," Said Percy nudging me with his elbow, "as it is I'm quite pleased that my little brother had the sense to claim you for his own. You have brought out things I never thought possible in Ron."

"Really," I said as I pulled my knees to my chest and wrapped my arms around them, "Like what?"

"He believes in himself now, because of you. I have known Ron since the day he was born on the couch in the sitting room." Percy and I both smirked, "He is smart and passionate, but he never had drive, he always just saw himself as the youngest boy. Living in the shadow of every accomplishment we all made before him. Then he found you, and you have never judged him based on us, you see him differently than any of us. You believe in him, and in turn he believes in him. I don't think he'd ever be at the Ministry doing what he's doing today, if it weren't for you."

"You know something about what he's doing today don't you?" I said quickly sitting up, "oh come on Percy give me hint! He wouldn't say a thing!"

"Not a chance! He wants it to be a surprise!" said Percy raising his hands in surrender.

Ron and Harry had still not made their decision about whether they wanted to return to school. For about a week Ron had been up to something, reading pamphlets, talking with Charlie and George in corners. Then that very morning he had announced he had a meeting at the Ministry and left through the Floo without another word. We had all been curiously awaiting his return home ever since.

I glared at Percy, but at that exact moment I heard the sound of excited voices wafting from the kitchen.

"Oh look… that sounds like Ron now…." Said Percy with and innocent smile, and we both stood. I rolled my eyes at him but he just tipped his hat and pulled out his wand, "Wonderful to see you again Hermione, give my congratulations to Ron."

"For what?" I began to say, but he had already Apparated away with a pop. I picked up my spell book and marched back towards the kitchen. I opened the door and began to ask what all the noise was about when I was enveloped in the arms I knew so well, and lifted off my feet as Ron spun me around in a circle. He was shouting that he got it. It took a moment for it to sink in and then I gasped in excitement asking him what job it was.

"Oh yes Ron! Do tell us!" said Mrs. Weasley.

"Just one more moment Mum." He said.

Once again I was caught of guard when Ron dipped me like an old Hollywood starlet and gave me the most passionate kiss we had ever shared in front of an audience. After a few blissful seconds Harry cleared his throat. Ron sat me back on my feet and we were both blushing as he mumbled a hasty apology to Harry and then turned back to the group.

"Ladies and gentleman!" he said proudly, "you are looking at the Quidditch commentator for the Wizarding Wirelesses new program, News Daily, with Lee Jordan."

"What?" screeched Ginny. Who rushed across the room to hug him.

"I don't believe it..." said Harry with a smile. "You made a career out of how much you love to talk about Quidditch."

Ron beamed at him.

"You bet I did." He said, "I was thinking about it all week… it's been an idea in the back of my head for awhile. So I wrote Kingsley and he sent me some pamphlets on different options of jobs having to do with Quidditch. Commentator was the one I liked best… I told him, and he told me that Lee was starting his own radio program, since you know he did the Potterwatch last year, and so I went down and talked with Lee today at the Ministry, and we set everything up. I'll go in everyday and help Lee organize things for the program, and then I just have to talk bout Quiddtich. I get to go to tons of games, and meet and interview players and coaches!"

"Alright stand aside there Ginny…" I said with a grin and I flung my arms around is neck and kissed him. Once again he responded so vigorously he picked me up. I pulled away and put my forehead on his.

"I'm so proud of you…" I said softly.

"Never could have done it without you." He whispered back.

Next to us Mrs. Weasley was beside herself with excitement.

"We must tell your father!" she said. "We'll have a party tonight, for you Ronald. Oh my goodness, my little Ronnie is going to be on the radio! I can't believe it."

She kissed his cheek and ran off to busy herself.

"So…are you still going to come visit us at Hogwarts once you're a working man?" said Harry.

"Yeah of course mate!" said Ron. "I'll only have work until about four in the afternoon most days. Except when there's games, and I was thinking about getting a place in Hogsmeade, then I can Apparate to work and still come see you lot in the evenings."

I was relieved as I heard him describe his plan. Seventh years were allowed to visit Hogsmeade whenever they wanted as long as they left word with their Head of House, so I could visit him whenever I pleased. I cuddled my head on his chest but then Harry's words sunk in and I realized something.

"Wait a minute." I said, "does that mean you're going back to Hogwarts too Harry?"

Harry shrugged.

"Yeah I guess I am. I just feel like if I'm going to become an Auror, I should have to do everything that everyone had to do to get there." He said. "You know?"

"Yeah I think you're right." said Ginny

I walked into Ginny's room and closed the door. Ginny and Harry were still in the hall and I wanted to give them their privacy. It had been and exceptionally fun evening. We had a great party for Ron and the whole family showed up. It was the best spirits I had seen everyone in, for quite some time. Towards the end of the evening Fred had poured a copious amount of some brown liquid into each of our cups of punch when his mother wasn't looking, informing us that we were celebrating Ron finally growing up so a little grown up celebration was appropriate. The only experience with alcohol I had ever had was a glass of wine in France with my parents so the liquor had gone straight to my head. I was surprised how uninhibited I was, Mrs. Weasley hadn't even noticed, I just felt… rather giggly, and maybe a hair more reckless than usual. I changed into my pajama's and just as I was pulling my t shirt over my head Ginny came bouncing into the room grinning.

"All set up! You can Apparate upstairs whenever you're ready." She walked over and flopped on her bed, "ummm… you're not going like that are you?" she said raising an eyebrow.

"What's wrong with this?" I looked down at my pajama's, fitted cotton capri's and one of my favorite t shirts, "this is what I always wear to bed."

"Yes… but it's Ron's big day? Why don't you give him a bit of a special surprise?" Ginny grinned slyly.

I felt my face turn beet red.

"I don't' own anything surprise worthy!" I mumbled, and it was true… the fanciest thing I own was a pair of underwear with a little blue bow on the front.

"Hmmm… " Ginny cocked her head to the side and looked at me appraisingly. She then picked up her wand and waived it. I stifled as gasp as my outfit morphed on my body. The Capri's shot up into tiny shorts that barely covered my behind and the top turned into a tight fitted tank top that was very low cut.

"There that's much better." Ginny giggled, "Now just one more touch…." She waived her wand one more time and the shorts turned black with a slim orange stripe up the sides and the shirt turned orange with two large black C's on the chest.

"What in the hell am I wearing?" I said looking down.

"That is the official uniform of the Chudley Cannon Cheer Girls." Said Ginny matter-of-factly, "Bunch of witches in skimpy clothes that cheer at the Cannons games. They think it will boost their popularity, not all that effective, but one thing's for certain. My brother gets one look at you in that and you're going to have to re teach him how to breath." She was still grinning evilly, as I picked up my wand and turned, red faced, on the spot.

I felt the familiar pressure and then release as I landed in Ron's room. Harry looked up at me and stared for a moment before turning slightly red and looking away. I reluctantly let my eyes find Ron, he was looking at me like he never had before, his eyes were wide and his mouth hung slightly open. The only other time I'd seen this look on his face was when Harry had received his Firebolt third year. I smiled sheepishly.

"Hey Harry weren't you leaving?" Ron said pointedly without looking away from me. Harry chuckled and I heard the pop, that signaled his Disapparation. Ron and I stared at each other for another long moment and then he got off his bed and walked the few steps to where I was standing. I felt nervous, he hadn't even commented on my outfit yet, but he was looking at me in a way he never had before, with and intensity that made me feel warm all over.

"Do you like it?" I said, and even my voice sound slightly higher than usual, "I thought I give you a nice surprise to celebr-"

"Shhhh…" he said, putting his finger on my lips and silencing me, he stepped close and pushed me against the wall pressing our bodies tightly together, his face was less than an inch from mine. I felt my heart hammering, even though I had been with Ron numerous times now, there was something about his intensity in this moment that had my blood pulsing. He ran his hand down my body bringing it to rest on my thigh, then without warning he lifted me up still pinned to the wall. I gasped in shock and excitement and wrapped my legs around his waist instinctively. He began to kiss me aggressively, more so than ever before. In other circumstances it might have even scared me a bit, but then combination of my slight inebriation and his excitement at my outfit seemed to have made us completely uninhibited.

Three days later we were walking through Diagon Alley hand in hand having a debate.

"I still have no idea why you find it necessary." Ron was saying.

"A Muggle Studies N.E.W.T. is important when starting a career in magical law!" I explained again.

"But 'Mione you lived as a Muggle for eleven years! What more could you possibly need to know?" said Ron.

"The way the Magical world sees them, especially when it comes to the laws we have regarding them." I replied.

We were in front of Weasley's Wizarding Wheezes, which was packed to the brim as always.

"Hang on I've got to go in…" said Ron pulling me towards the store.

"Oh you go on… it's too crowded in there for me…" I said pulling back, "I'll wait out here for you."

"Just as well… I'm getting a present for you anyway." Ron said with a smile.

"Ron! Don't waste your money on me honestly I don't need—"

"Nope, don't even try it!" Ron said stopping my rebuttal with a kiss, "I'll be back in just a minute."

With one more kiss he ran into the crowded store, I smiled goofily after him and leaned against the side of the building taking out one of my new school books.

"Well aren't you two picture perfect?" said a voice to my right. I looked up to see Lavender Brown standing a few steps away laden with packages.

"Yeah I guess we are aren't we?" I said, trying my best not to sound smug.

"Good to heard you'll be returning to Hogwarts Hermione, Seamus and I will be returning as well…. We're dating now you know… Seamus and I." Lavender finished and looked at me expectantly.

"Well… good for you. I'm sure you two make a fine pair." I said awkwardly.

"Yes… well… see you at school." She said, and she turned and hurried away. I watched her go and shook my head in amusement.

"What're you lookin at?" said Ron behind me.

"Lavender Brown…" I answered.

"Bloody hell where!" yelped Ron diving behind me.

"She left… and why are you still hiding? You two haven't dated in over a year, and last time I checked you had a new girlfriend."

"Yeah….sorry. Just a gut reaction you know?" said Ron ruffling his hair sheepishly.

"Coward." I said rolling my eyes at him, "Now where is this present I'm supposed to receive?"

"Oh right!" He pulled a small black rectangle out of his pocket and handed it to me. It was roughly the size and shape of a playing card and seemed to be made of some kind of stone.

"what is it?" I said curiously.

"Fred and George came up with the idea about six months ago but with everything that's been going on George and Charlie just got them into production, watch this." He took out an identical black tablet and held his wand over it. He motioned as if he were writing on it with his wand and then tapped it once. The moment he tapped it the rock in my hand turned warm. I looked down an there were words written on it in Ron's untidy scrawl.

_I love you._

"That's brilliant!" I said looking from the tablet to Ron.

"All you have to do is run your hand over the stone and the message will disappear." He said, "I figured if I was going to be forced to be away from you. It would be nice to have a way to tell you all the little things that happen throughout the day."

"Have I ever told you that you are the most amazing man on the planet?" I said putting my arms around his neck.

"Never hurts to remind me." he said with a grin,


	16. Chapter 12

"Right… books sorted according to subject matter, clothes… school and recreational, ink and parchment….God I love the smell of new parchment…." I pointed to each thing in my trunk making sure I hadn't forgotten a thing.

"Hermione where did you put your cauldron?" said Ginny rummaging under her bed, I had agreed to let Ginny have my cauldron because I wasn't continuing with potions and she was. This allowed her to sell her old cauldron in Diagon Alley, and with the extra money she was able to trade in her Cleansweep Twelve at Quality Quidditch Supplies for a Nimbus Two Thousand and Two. It was not: as she and Harry had informed me, near as good as Harry's Firebolt, but it was only one year out of date and still a top of the line model.

"Somewhere in your closet…" I said.

"Oh lord…." Ginny groaned, she opened the door to her closet which was so packed there was no space to move inside. It held mountains of clothes too small for her, old toys and school books, knick knacks, and now also many things I had discarded from my small beaded purse.

"This is the problem…with being the youngest _and_ the only girl" Ginny grunted as she tugged on the handle of my cauldron which was wedged under her Pigmypuff Arnold's old cage in between a battered paperback copy of the Tales of Beedle the Bard, and a worn doll house. "No one to give your old stuff to so it piles up!"

Ginny finally dislodged the cauldron and the colossal pile of junk shifted. There was a tell tale clattering towards the back that indicated something had fallen apart or spilled. Ginny looked into the cauldron and scooped out a few brightly colored barrettes and a Holyhead Harpies pin.

"Have you ever thought about cleaning that out… maybe giving a most of it to that second hand store in Diagon Alley?" I said to her.

"Are you kidding?" she said tossing the barrettes and the pin back into the mess, "Do you have any idea how long that would take?" she pushed the door of the closet closed having to give a it a slight shove to make it latch properly, then she tossed the cauldron into her haphazard trunk and snapped it shut, she had to sit on the lid to make it close.

"All done!" she said happily.

"I'll take that for you beautiful." Said Harry, who had just entered the room, he waived his wand and Ginny's trunk levitated out the door.

"Just brought mine down, your Dad is loading it into the car." He explained.

"I would like to inform you all…" announced Ron as he sauntered into the room, "you are setting a new Weasley record. For the first time in my almost nineteen years of existence, the car is being packed up and Mum has not started shouting _once._"

"Well that not all that surprising… we finally got rid of the one who was always holding things up!" said Ginny sticking her tongue out at him.

"Excuse me miss… oh I forgot my broom, oh I forgot my lucky jumper, oh I forgot my potions book…" said Ron putting on a ridiculous girly voice and mocking his sister.

"Oh yeah Mr. Smart arse, then you tell me how I managed to pack up all my things in half the time it usually took you, and Mum _isn't _yelling." Said Ginny with a hand on her hip.

"Well that's easy…" said Ron as he walked across the room and slipped his arms around my waist, "Hermione helped you."

Ginny glared at him, but had no come back, because it was very true, I had helped her find all her things, and made her list the contents of her trunk back to me so we knew she hadn't forgotten anything. Ron grinned at her smugly knowing he'd won.

"Oh shut up!" snapped Ginny as she grabbed her wand off the bed and stormed out of the room after Harry who was chuckling.

"Don't be angry because I'm right!" Ron called after her, I turned around and swatted his shoulder.

"Don't gloat…" I said sternly.

"Aww come on she deserved it…." He put his arms around me again and leaned down to brush his lips gently over mine. He then turned his attention to my trunk.

"I've got to say I have never seen a neater trunk in my life… I bet you have everything sorted according to use, subject, and alphabetical order."

"That's not true!" I defended, "They're not alphabetical!" Ron threw his head back and laughed.

"'Mione your freakish organizational skills are one of the reasons I love you.." he teased.

"Good because they're not going away…" I said with a smile, and I stood on my tip toes to give him another peck on the lips.

"I gotta be honest though… I have no idea how you'll ever live with me… I'll probably drive you crazy." He said offhandedly as he waived his wand and flipped the top of my trunk closed easily.

I froze, wand still in my hand and looked at him. I was the first time he had mentioned anything vaguely concrete about our future. Of course it wasn't that much of a surprise to me, I had known for quite awhile now, years if I was being honest, that the only person I wanted to spend my life with was him. I also couldn't deny that I had let my mind wander on more than one occasion to whether I would want to be Hermione Weasley, or Hermione Granger Weasley, or perhaps hyphenate it. Yet hearing Ron so casually mention it… it made me realize how natural it was to him as well. Ron looked up and met my eye and I could tell that he knew what I was thinking, and what I was reacting to. I saw a slight flush appear in his cheeks, he opened his mouth to speak when all of a sudden.

"Hermione are you packed? Harry and Ginny are already in the car, and for once we are actually on schedule and I would like to keep it that way!" snapped Mrs. Weasley, who had poked her head in the door breaking the trance Ron and I were in.

"All set Mrs. Weasley! We're on our way down now!" I said brightly, avoiding Ron's eye. She huffed away from the door and I turned back to Ron.

"Better not push our luck…" he said quickly grabbing the handle of my trunk, "She just slightly annoyed now, don't want her to start yelling."

The ride to King's Cross was enjoyable, but also different than usual. Mr. Weasley, who was once again in the Ministry's good graces, got us a car to take us. Ginny, Harry, Ron, and I sat comfortably in the back, the whole way there Ron never let go of my hand. I was a jumble of emotions. I was happy and excited, because I was finally going back to Hogwarts, something I had dreamed of doing the entire previous year without even knowing if it was a possibility. Hogwarts was like a piece of me, I knew I would feel whole again as soon as I stepped through the doors. Yet I was also reluctant, scared even, because as soon as I stepped onto the Hogwarts Express, I would be separated from Ron. I knew he would be close, and that I'd seem him almost everyday as soon as he got settled in Hogsmeade, but the idea of Hogwarts without Harry, Ron, and I together…felt strange, unbalanced.

Mr. Weasley parked the car at King's Cross and we all got out and loaded our things onto trolley's. Ginny was the first through the platform followed by Harry, then it was my turn. I walked briskly towards the barrier between platforms nine and ten, and felt the familiar whooshing feeling, but when I got to the other side I received a shock. Bright flashing lights assaulted me and a clamor of voices.

"_Miss Granger how does it feel to be returning to Hogwarts?"_

"_Is it true that you Confunded your Muggle parents when you disappeared with Harry Potter last year?"_

"_Are the rumors about you and Ron Weasley true?"_

The reporters pressed in on me from either side, I heard another whoosh behind me just as a hand grabbed my forearm from the right, Ginny pulled me out of the frenzy and a few seconds later Ron pushed through to join us, we kept our heads down and walked briskly towards the train, but the reporters followed throwing questions at us relentlessly.

"_Mr Weasley why have you chosen not to return to school with the others?"_

"_Is it true Miss Granger that you were tortured by a Death Eater?"_

"_What about your relationship with Mr. Weasley? Is it true you are a couple? Some say you're only dating him because Harry Potter has reunited with Ginny Weasley, any comment?"_

"WHAT?" I whirled on the spot my face flushing with heat looking for the speaker of the last comment.

"Nope, no you don't…. keep walking…" Ron said softly into my hair as he put an arm on my waist and directed me back toward the train almost picking me up in my unwillingness to withdraw from our defense.

"You make a scene you're just giving them what they want 'luv." Said Ron, he squeezed my hand as we kept walking and I felt a flare of annoyance as I heard the camera's start clicking madly.

"But… of all the fowl, evil, twisted things to say… it's disgusting and disrespectful, to all of us!" I vented.

"And everyone who matters knows what a load of rubbish it is." Said Ginny putting her arm around my waist, "Come on now we're almost there."

"Almost where?" I said, looking around, we had almost reached the last car on the train, then suddenly two things happened at once, Harry mysteriously appeared as if out of thin air standing next to the train, and the hoard of rabid reporters stopped about five feet from us looking disappointed and then began to putter around talking amongst themselves as if… we were invisible.

"A shield charm?" I said.

"Set up by Hogwarts around this last car. Only students and parents can get through. They had a feeling we'd have a bit of an issue with the press today." Harry explained walking over.

"Yeah well the press didn't reckon they have quite as much of an issue with us, Hermione almost got in a fist fight." Said Ron grinning mischievously.

"Oh I did not, shut up!" I grumbled, but I retold the story for Harry who laughed.

"Well I dunno Hermione…" he said with a silly grin, " All those late nights in the wild when Ron was gone, the romantic fires… when my eyes met yours…" I rolled my eyes dramatically.

"Yeah and then I said, 'Harry you've got soot on your nose, I'm going to bed.'"

We all roared with laughter. Just then the reporters perked up again.

"If you do not get out of my way I will _hex_ you! And you can quote that in any magazine or newspaper you like." Spat Mrs. Weasley as she shoved her way through and past the shield with Mr. Weasley right on her tail chuckling.

"Honestly! Don't they have anything better to do?" she said gruffly as she walked up to us.

"Well… um… no Mum, they're reporters, that's their job." said Ron trying to keep a straight face.

"Oh be quiet Ronald you know what I mean." she snipped. But the corners of her mouth turned up. "Well here we are… last time on this platform." She turned to smile at us all I saw her eyes shining slightly but she took a deep breath and righted herself.

"Right you have all your things so off you go! Have an amazing final year!" she hugged and kissed Harry, Ginny and I, and Mr. Weasley gave both Ginny and I a kiss on the top of the head and hugged Harry. The first warning whistle sounded. Harry and Ginny hopped on the train with one last waive and Ron pulled me over by the carriage door away from his parents. Quite suddenly and out of no where in particular, panic exploded in me and I felt like someone put a vice on my insides. To my horror my eyes began to fill with tears.

"'Mione what wrong?" said Ron taking my face in his hands and looking at me in concern.

"I can't…" I gasped knowing in my head how utterly absurd this was but I couldn't help it I was terrified, "I can't go… not without you, you promised we wouldn't be apart again ever! What if something happens, you could be in an accident on the way home, the Death Eaters could attack the Burrow tonight, this could be the last time that I… that I…" I was hyperventilating now and tears were flowing, in my head I was mortified with how stupid I was being but I couldn't stop myself.

""Mione…. " Ron sighed, he pulled me tight against his chest crushing me in a hug, it felt like he was literally holding me together, keeping me from falling to pieces, I listened to his steady breathing and forced my own to follow it, and I calmed down. After a few moments, he pulled away and put his hands back on each side of my face.

"I love you so much." He said kissing each of my cheeks, "I'm going home, and looking or a room in Hogsmeade tonight." He kissed the tip of my nose, "I understand why your afraid… we've been through so much. But we're safe, and happy." He kissed the top of my head, "and I will _never_ leave you again." He tilted my head up and kissed me slowly I wrapped my arms around his neck and kissed him back, feeling more powerful emotions than I have words to describe.

"Now go learn something my beautiful book worm." He said with a smile, as the train whistle blew again. He lifted my arm with our fingers entwined and spun me around once as if we were dancing and then gave me a soft push towards the door. As he did he also smacked my bum, and I jumped and giggled sheepishly not only at the gesture but at the admonishment from Mrs. Weasley in the background. I walked into the cabin and was pleased to see Neville and Luna there along with Ginny and Harry, and they were holding hands, I smiled. We all leaned out the window as the train slowly grinded into motion. Ron, Mr. and Mrs. Weasley all waived at us enthusiastically at the last moment, Ron made his hands into the shape of a heart, and then pointed at me with a wink. I knew what it meant, as we passed through the shield and they disappeared I knew his heart was on it's way to Hogwarts with me.

"Have a good night Neville!" I said happily.

"You too Hermione!" he responded, and then we both turned to climb our respective stair cases. It had been a long but enjoyable night. Harry, Ginny, Neville, Luna, and I had received awards for special services to the school. Harry, Ron, and I had our faces put on a huge shield in the Great Hall which I knew was going to take some getting used to, and then Neville and I had been made Head Girl and Boy, Which is what lead me to the door in front of me, as Head girl I had my own room, something that both thrilled and terrified me. Having my own room would be wonderful for studying and just some time alone, but I worried about feeling lonely especially this first night in a strange room. I pushed open the door and walked in. It was beautiful, a perfectly round room the plush carpet was checkered in scarlet, emerald, royal blue, and yellow. There was a desk by the window, a fireplace with two overstuffed arm chairs, and directly opposite it, taking up a large amount of the room was the largest, most comfortable looking bed I'd ever seen, with lush velvet blankets and bed curtains of deep scarlet, no doubt to represent the House of this years Head Girl. Yet what really caught my attention was what was on the bed. It was a tray laden with objects, I ran over an assessed it, and I felt a lump in my throat. There was four chocolate frogs, a jar of peanut butter, a pot of apple spice tea with two sticks of cinnamon, a sugar quill, a vanilla scented candle, the blue blanket from Ron's bed, and his Chudley Cannons t shirt that I loved to sleep in. With it all was a note which I opened eagerly.

_Bill spilled the beans about Hogwarts having the brightest, prettiest, cleverest, sexiest Head Girl it has ever seen in it's…. what four hundred years? I dunno I'll have to ask you, you've actually read Hogwarts A History. _(I giggled) _But anyway he helped me out with smuggling in a package of all of your absolute favorite things to help that room feel like your home, because nobody deserves it more than you Hermione. Take care of my heart for me love, see you tomorrow. ~ Yours Always Ron_

I kissed the note and held it to my chest for a moment. Then lay it down and opened the lid of my trunk, I pulled out my flannel pajama pants and the little black stone tablet Ron had given me in Diagon Alley. I changed into his Cannons shirt and my pj pants and then hopped onto the bed. It was even squishier than I had imagined. I sat crossed legged on the bed and unwrapped the first chocolate frog which made a valiant jump but I caught it and slathered it in peanut butter. I began to nibble on it as I took my wand and wrote on the tablet.

_"How do you always know exactly what I need? __"_

I took another bite of the frog and began to pour the tea as I felt the tablet grow hot on my leg. I looked down.

_"Because that's my job. To make sure you are always happy."_

I grinned as I wrote back.

_"I love you Ronald Weasley."_

I drained the cup of tea, set the tray on my night stand and lit the candle before slipping under the warm blanket and putting out the lamps with my wand. The tablet grew warm again.  
_  
"Same to you Granger. __ Get some sleep."_

~~~~~~~

"Harry wait up!" I called as I rushed to catch up with him and Ginny, they were pushing through the crowd towards the stairs that lead to the Great Hall for dinner.

"Hey Hermione!" he said brightly, "How was your first day?"  
"Absolutely brilliant!" I gushed, "Arithmancy is so fascinating when you get into the upper levels, my Ancient Runes teacher said his seventh years get to go on a day trip to the Scottish moors to look at actual ancient artifacts; and Charms! Oh Harry I wish you hadn't given it up the N.E.W.T has some of the most fascinating charms I've ever seen! And to give that up but keep potions?"

"Well I want to be an Auror Hermione… that requires a Potions N.E.W.T." he said with a shrug.

"She's right though you know…" said Ginny on his right, her arm linked through his, "Flitwick showed us some amazing things today."

"Yeah yeah… don't rub it in…" said Harry with an eye roll. Just then a bunch of second year Ravenclaw's came running down the corridor through the crowd they were being rowdy on their way to dinner and shoving each other and one of them was shoved into a Hufflepuff first year girl who dropped all her books.

"Hey!" I shouted to them, and they all looked up in apprehension, "No, horseplay or running in the halls! Now pick up her books and apologize!" I said sternly, they all looked at me grumpily, but with my Head Girl badge pinned clearly to my robes they didn't dare defy me, so they begrudgingly picked up the books and handed them to the girl with mumbled apologies.

"Well someone is having no trouble slipping into their Head Girl role…" said Harry with a grin.

"What? I'm just enforcing the rules! It's my job now." I defended.

"And I'm just saying it's one you are very suited to." Harry replied, still smirking.

"I pity your children Hermione, if they put one toe out of line…" said Ginny with a grin.

"Yeah but they'll have Ron sneaking around with them," said Harry elbowing me, "and speak of the devil."

I looked up quickly, we were about three fourths of the way down the stair case to the entrance hall. There he was, standing just outside the Great Hall grinning from ear to ear. I momentarily forgot that I had just admonished second years for running, as I flew into his waiting arms. He hugged me close picking me up off the ground and swinging me around. Now my day was perfect, I realized that now I had my heart back as well. He set me down but leaned over to whisper in my ear.

"Here I am all safe and sound just like I promised you silly bird. I miss you so much."

I giggled, my face pressed on his chest, but I realized we were creating a scene. We pulled apart and walked into the Great Hall with Harry and Ginny. I stepped back as Dean and Seamus both cheered and jumped up to slap Ron on the back. Out of the corner of my eye I caught Lavender's expression and her bright smile irked me. Ron was shaking hands and catching up with the boys as we went to take our seats, just before we sat down he froze, noticing for the first time the large decorative shield over the fireplace.

"Bloody _hell….._" he said slowly looking at his own head three times life size staring down at him, "Subtle is not there strong suit is it…" We all laughed as we sat down to dinner.

A few hours later we were all sitting in the common room, I was cuddled up on one of the couches with Ron. I had been silly to be worried about how different things would be, here we were the first night after classes and everything was the same, in fact, it was better. I was reading my Arithmancy homework, Professor Vector did not believe in the rule of no homework on the first day. Ron was reading as well, apparently part of his new job was doing research on various Quidditch teams. Even though we were both absorbed in our own work he had his arm flung over my shoulder, and was absentminded tracing my collarbone with his fingertips as he read. Suddenly an owl flew through the open window creating a commotion in the room. It landed on the chair next to Harry and offered him a note which he read. He the informed us that MacGonagall was offering him his own room. Bill Weasley had taken over D.A.D.A and he was living at home with Fleur instead of at the school , therefore as recognition of all the work Harry had done MacGonagall was offering the quarters to him. He barely hesitated before sending his response back. I smirked at Ginny, I knew they had been sorely missing their alone time. After a few more minutes I decided to turn in.

"Walk you to your room?" said Ron.

"You'd better!" I said back with a grin, and we left the Common Room hand in hand after a round of goodnights.

"So…. How is it that I got up here without alarms going off?" said Ron as we were standing outside the door to my room. "Your room doesn't have the same security as the girl's dormitory?"

"Oh no it does…" I replied, "but only if you try to go inside. They had to allow boys to come this far so that the Head Boy could come get the Head Girl if needed."

"So that means I can't ever go into your room?" he said looking disheartened.

"Don't be silly here stand still." I waived my wand up and down the length of him twice and said the spell. "Right your fine to come in now."

"Huh? What did you do?" he said cocking his head to the side.

"I changed your gender." I said.

"What?" he yelped, looking sharply down at himself and patting all over as if looking or differences.

I burst out laughing at him.

"Not really you goon… I changed the way that the room perceives you. It's a trick spell to get around the founders archaic rules." I pulled him into my room.

"Brilliant…" he said looking around, and I knew that was a response to what I had just explained and my room.

"So how long have you been able to pull off that little trick?" he asked, flopping across my bed like he owned the place.

"Since fifth year…" I replied as I walked over to my desk and put my Arthimancy book back on the pile there.

"Wait!" said Ron sitting up to look at me, "You've know how to do that since fifth year and you never used it on Harry and I so we could come get you in the girl's dormitory whenever we liked? That's so unfair!"

"It wasn't just _my_ dormitory Ronald! I couldn't give you access to the personal space of all the Gryffindor girls!"

"You got free access to all the Gryffindor boys personal space… all the girls did and we didn't even get a say!" He retorted, still slightly grumpy.

"Oh don't pout…" I said walking over and joining him on the bed where I kissed him softly and all traces of his disgruntled behavior went away. "Besides I figured Lavender might have put the spell on you sixth year, a lot of girls know it. I know Ginny put it on Dean…. Come to think of it I bet Harry has it as well…"

"Ok A: if you don't stop talking about who my sister invited up to her bedroom, I _will_ suffocate myself with your pillow! God!" he made a show of reaching for my pillow and I jumped on him to stop him and we both toppled over laughing.

"and B: While she'll never admit it, Lavender isn't the best at spells so she probably didn't want to risk it going wrong and getting caught, not to mention I tended to put all my energy into keeping her as far away from an beds or bedroom time situations as possible!" he said.

"_Bedroom time situations?"_ I repeated with a raised eyebrow.

"Oh shut up you know what I mean…" he said glaring but he couldn't help but smile. He brushed his hand along my cheek and looked deep in my eyes. I smiled and stretched up to put my lips on his. He kissed me softly and after a moment he parted his lips deepening the kiss. He wound his fingers in my hair and kissed me more vigorously shifting his weight so he was over top of me.

"—no…no you don't." I said pulling my lips away and sitting up.

"What? What 's wrong?" he said, looking worried.

"Nothing is wrong dear, but I am Head Girl now, and I have class in the morning and I am dedicated to be responsible… which means none of… _that_…tonight." I explained.

"Awww…. Hermione…" he whimpered, looking like a child being told Christmas was cancelled. I chuckled in spite of myself.

"It won't kill you… I promise." I kissed him again, "Now it's time to go back to your apartment…"

He groaned and flopped on the bed like I had mortally wounded him. I giggled as I hopped up and grabbed his arms pulling him to an unwilling standing position and directly him towards the door. I opened it and he turned in the doorway and enveloped me in his arms.

"I'll see you tomorrow. *kiss* after work *kiss* sleep well *kiss*"

"Just go already you dork!" I laughed, and I pushed him out the door shaking my head I closed the door and leaned against it and sighed happily. A knock on the door startled me, I cracked and Ron popped his head back in. "What now?" I said in pretend annoyance.

"Forgot something." He said and he pulled me into a kiss so intense it made my head spin. "Now I can go." He said with a triumphant grin, because he knew he had made me want him very badly to stay. "Night "Mione!" he winked and pulled the door shut.

"Alright Ron…. There is something fuzzy and brown in that cupboard that I think may have been _alive_ at some point." I said in disgusted wrinkling my nose and quickly exiting the kitchen before I gagged.

It was Friday afternoon and I had agreed to come down to Ron's flat after my classes to help him clean up. He had rented a small one bedroom place above Aberforth's pub that had apparently been used as storage for several years, I looked as though it hadn't been cleaned for several years before that.

"I shall come to your rescue and vanquish the unknown icky thing my lady!" said Ron, brandishing his wand like a sword as the stomped into the kitchen and I laughed at his antics. I plopped down on his old couch which groaned under my weight, and started organizing the papers he had strewn across the table.

"Wow… not sure what animal that was… but it was bloody disgusting." said Ron coming back into the room.

"Hey Ron…" I said looking at the letter I picked up, " Why does this note from Leigh say you declined an interview?"

"Oh…" he shifted around uneasily, "Because I did…"

"But it says it was to interview the Team that's leading the league. I don't even understand much about Quidditch but I know that's probably the biggest interview of your career to date, why would you turn that down?"

"Because I don't want to do it Hermione! And you're right you don't know anything about Quidditch so drop it!" Ron snapped angrily and he snatched the paper from my hand.

I sat there in stunned silence, my eyebrows raised at his vicious attack.

"What is your problem?" I asked angrily, "I was just asking a question."

"Well maybe I don't want to explain everything I do to you!" he said his tone still spiteful.

"_Everything _you do?" My voice was rising now, " well _excuse_ me! I simply was taking an interest in my boyfriend's career! I think the real issue is that there is something about this interview you don't want me to know isn't there? _Isn't there?"_

I realized I had stood up and was now facing him down.

"Fine." He said flatly glaring at me, "You really wanna know? It's the Bulgarian team, and I don't want that big nosed _git _back around. Now go on… give me the lecture I knew I was going to get."

I was floored, my mouth dropped open and I was filled simultaneously with shock and rage.

"This is about _Victor Krum_? Please tell me you're joking! After everything we've been through, you are still hung up on that? I cannot believe you!" I was shouting at the top of my voice now.

"See I knew this would happen!" he shouted right back, "You always get so angry at me for not liking him!"

"This isn't about liking him or not liking him! This is about a stupid grudge from god knows how long ago. And after last year, after everything we've gone through to be together. After LAVENDER! You still hold onto this?"

"I can dislike whomever I please! I'm a grown man, and I can make my own decisions about people!" Ron shouted back.

"Well that's just the point Ronald!" I yelled, "You're still acting like a child after all this time!"

"I am not acting like a child!" he bellowed back at me, "I'm perfectly allowed to interview and not interview whomever I like, and I don't want to interview him!"

"Why? Because I when to a Ball with him four years ago?" I screeched, feeling myself begin to tremble with fury.

"No! because if he comes here he'll want to see you!" shouted Ron.

"He's one of the best Seeker's of all time Ronald! It would be unprofessional to not interview him! And what does it matter if he wants to see me?" I yelled back, I wanted to slap him out of sheer frustration.

"Because!" Ron roared, "He'll try to charm his way back it! I know it, I saw the way he looked at you at Bill and Fleur's wedding and I couldn't bear it Hermione!" His voice faltered and I saw pain flash across his face as he looked at me, begging me to understand.

"What are you talking about?" I snapped, I was still furious with him for being so juvenile, but when he looked at me like that I knew he was truly upset, and how much he wanted me to understand.

He ran his hand though his hair and sighed in frustration.

"I can't stand it when other guys look at you like that because… BECAUSE I'M IN LOVE WITH YOU GOD DAMNIT!" Ron shouted at me.

I stared at him, I had heard him say it what felt like a million times, but in that moment looking into his desperate eyes, the reality crashed over me. He was in love with me, he felt the exact same way I felt, he would be completely lost without me, to the point where the idea of losing me terrified him so much he couldn't bear to let someone come near me that might even try to take me away. I was his whole world…

Before I knew what was happening I ran at him. I jumped into his arms causing him to lose his balance and slump against the wall. I kissed him hard putting all my pent up aggression into the kiss and he responded just as passionately, after a moment we both pulled away gasping for breath.

"You are such an idiot…" I breathed against his lips before pulling him in for another electric kiss.

Sometime later we were both lying on the couch trying to remember how to breathe correctly.

"Bloody hell….." Ron groaned in admiration and he kissed my shoulder. "Can you please promise me that we will argue more often… because that was…. Bloody hell…." I giggle.

"I guess that was our first real fight as a couple wasn't it? And what they say about making up is very true… even if I do say so myself." I grinned at him.

"Truer words were never spoke." He replied.

"But Ron…" I rolled over and put my chin on his chest so I could look him in the eye, " I need you to do something for me…"

"Anything in the universe…" he said softly running his fingers up and down my arm.

"Ron I love you. More than anything in this world, other men don't exist to me anymore… truthfully I'm not sure they ever did. Victor Krum was only ever a distraction….so you need to promise me, if something like this comes up again. You'll do it. I have no interest in seeing Victor, but you _need_ to be able to interact with him for your career. Can you promise me you'll try, for me?"

"Yeah all right… I suppose I was being a big baby…" he said with smile.

"You think?" I leaned up to kiss him and then rolled back over putting my head against his shoulder.

"So now that we worked that out… what on earth are we going to have to fight about?" teased Ron.

"Oh I'm sure we'll find something, with how stubborn you are." I picked back.

"oh hoho… Say little miss always-has-to-have-the-last-word."

"I do not!" I said indignantly, flipping on my side to glare at him.

"Oh is that so?" he said with raised eyebrow.

"Yes it is! I am perfectly capable of letting someone else have the last word." I said.

"What is that last conversation you remember in which you let someone else have the last word?" he asked smirking now.

"I don't rememeber! But there have been plenty!" I retorted in annoyance.

"Ok fine whatever you say…" he acquiesced.

"It is what I say" I said.

"I'm agreeing with you." he said.

"Well good then" I said.

We both looked at each other for a moment trying to contain our smiles, then at the same moment we both burst into laughter. We were laughing so hard we lost our balance on the rickety old couch and toppled to the floor in a pile which just made us laugh harder.

"Ok fine…" I said gasping for breath, "Maybe I do always have to have the last word."

"It's all right… it's one of the thousands of reasons I love you." said Ron, still chuckling.

"mmmm… say that again."

"I love you… I love you… I love you…" Ron whispered, kissing down my neck as he spoke. "Always and forever, every day of forever.

"Promise?" I said putting a hand on his cheek.

"Cross my heart." He said, leaning down to kiss me.


	17. Chapter 13

_Still busy with work. Sorry._

I cursed and threw the stone tablet at the wall where it hit with a sharp crack before clattering to the floor. I had stopped worrying about whether it would break some time ago. This was not the first occasion in which I had thrown it in anger over the past few weeks, and at this point I was so disgusted I doubt I really would have minded at all if it had broken. I looked back down at my Arithmancy essay but angry tears were filling my eyes so I shoved it aside and went to flop miserably on my bed.

It had been three weeks and four days since that perfect night in Ron's apartment, and after that wonderful moment everything had been as perfect as ever, for a few days. Then things began to change, slowly at first, just small differences. Ron and Harry had spent a Saturday together without Ginny and I, something that was not at all remarkable seeing as they were best friends, but ever since that day Ron had been pulling away. At first I tried to rationalize in my head, say it was nothing, that I was being paranoid, he was just busy with his new job. Then things started to be more noticeable, the excuses came as to why he couldn't come up to the castle at night. He was always busy, and never at home. I tried to go down and surprise him one night when he said he was swamped with work and he wasn't even there. He was become more distant physically as well, he had barely even kissed me in weeks. A painful, aching knot was growing in my stomach. I had been so fixated on the idea of Ron and I together forever, that I had never even considered the possibility of a life for myself that didn't include him. Now every time I tried it felt like someone was punching me in the stomach. I couldn't lose him, but I felt like the more I held on, the quicker he slipped away. I felt the tears coming again and I buried my face in my pillow to try and ebb the flow. Just then I heard a soft knock on my door.

"Who is it?" I said quickly wiping my eyes on my sleeve.

"It's me." said Ginny's voice from the other side of the door.

"Come in." I said, as I sat up and took a deep breath to right myself.

It didn't matter though, the minute Ginny walked through the door and saw me I could tell by the tender look that crossed her face that she saw right through me, yet there was something else there as well that I couldn't quite place. Over the past few weeks Harry and Ginny had been wonderfully supportive and comforting , but all their attentiveness had an underlying current of annoyance and frustration, and I could tell that it was not towards me, but _for _me, though I had given up some time ago figuring out what it was about. They were not being particularly forth coming.

"You were crying again weren't you?" said Ginny coming over and sitting down on the bed next to me, once again I noticed the edge of bitterness in the question.

"Am I that obvious?" I said weakly.

"You're that in love…" she answered, and tears welled up in my eyes as I nodded unable to speak.

"Hermione, I know how hard this is for you right now, but you trust Harry and I don't you?" Said Ginny, sounding almost desperate.

"With my life." I said looking up at her earnestly, she took my hands in hers and looked me in the eyes.

"Then please trust us when we tell you that you have nothing to worry about. Ron is an idiot, but he loves you and everything is going to be all right, even better than before if you just hang in there." She said.

"Ginny I want to believe you… more than anything… but…. With the way he's been acting, I feel him slipping away…. And I am just so tired of being hurt by him… I don't think my heart can take it anymore."

"I'm going to kill him… that stupid git, I'm going to murder him!" her was growling with frustration and pacing the room wildly.

"Gin… come on now, he's your brother…"

"No! you don't understand Hermione… I just can't believe he's putting you through this! For nothing!" she kicked the edge of the bed.

"Well… maybe it not for nothing.. maybe it's for the best." I said in a very small voice that not even I believed.

"It's for nothing Hermione… you two belong together, please trust that." Ginny hugged me fiercely, "Now try to get some sleep."

As Ginny left, I slowly went and changed into my pajama's as I cuddled into my bed I had to once again push away the growing ache inside me.

"Is that what you got Hermione?"

"What?" I said looking over dimly at Susan Bones and Lavender Brown who were sitting next to me.

"I asked if this chart formation is the same one that you got on your homework." said Susan showing me her Arithmancy chart.

"Oh yes it is." I said glancing at it quickly.

"You seem rather distracted lately…" said Susan with a tone of genuine concern, "I haven't seen Ron around as much these days… are you two in a fight?" I couldn't help but notice how Lavender suddenly became quite engrossed in pouring over her essay but leaned ever so slightly Susan's direction. The fact that Lavender was even in this class annoyed me to no end, considering I felt it to be one of the school most dignified subjects and found nothing dignified about her, but I didn't even have the energy to muster up annoyance anymore.

"Well Susan we'd have to be speaking to be in a fight, he's just outright ignoring and avoiding me at the moment." I replied indifferently.

"Oh you want to be careful with that Hermione…" said Lavender in an obnoxiously wise voice, "that's what he did with me for weeks before I caught him coming out of the boys dormitory with you… doesn't know how to end things proper so he just runs away."

"Well our relationship is slightly more evolved not to mention completely different than yours was!" I snapped at her, and then turned my attention to Professor Vector who had just entered the room. Yet she had struck a nerve, by the time I had reached Defense Against the Dark Arts I couldn't get her words out of my head. I kept playing over and over all the times he had hidden behind me to avoid her, stayed away from the Common Room because he was too much of a coward to end it. The only thought running through my brain now was, who is he hiding behind to avoid me? and the very idea was like a red hot poker across the heart. Unfortunately we were doing Patronus's in Defense class, and after three or four absolutely pathetic attempts I ran out crying. I couldn't handle shoddy school work on top of everything else! I ran into the nearest classroom slumped into a chair and let the tears flow freely.

I heard the door open but I didn't look up, I knew who it would be. He was always there when Ron hurt me, always there to pick up the pieces of Ron's stupid messes. I felt his hand on my shoulder, and as I did I felt the flood gates break lose with everything I needed to say.

"Oh Harry! What's wrong with him?" I spewed out as I looked up at him in pain and desperation, "I thought things were finally good between us! That he'd finally grown up, but now he's acting just as stupid as he did in our sixth year. Harry..." I hesitated, trying to read is face as I searched for the strength to ask the one question I had been too afraid to ask anyone else, only my best friend, I could only bear to hear it from him, "Harry he isn't you know... seeing someone else is he? Maybe at work?"

"No Hermione!" he said indignantly, "he wouldn't do that to you! Ever! He loves you!"

"Then why the hell is he being so stupid!" all my pain, frustration, hopelessness it flowed out, I felt defeated, "I've been thinking more and more this past week that I should really just be done with him and save myself the trouble! Maybe we're just trying too hard to make it work when it's not meant to be!"

I looked into his face and was surprised by what I saw there. It was frustration, and empathy like Ginny, but there was more, he was torn… he seemed to be fighting against something and it was killing him.

"Hermione…" he began, "I know you feel awful right now, but I think that you are probably not seeing the whole picture. I really think Ron's just been especially stressed lately, I know he loves you. He says it every bloody day. Why don't you just wait till he has some free time this weekend, and let him explain himself before you make any rash decisions."

I could tell her wanted to say more, but he didn't. For the first time, I felt like there was a piece of the puzzle I was missing. He couldn't tell me something. The first thing that popped into my head was that Ron had someone else, but Harry said he didn't, and I trusted Harry more than anyone. So I resigned myself to waiting, Harry was right. Ron at least deserved his explanation, I just wasn't sure I even wanted to hear it anymore.

The next day was Friday, and after hearing nothing from Ron all day long I had resigned myself to a Friday night alone with my books. Harry invited me to study with him because Ginny was meeting Neville and Luna for drinks at the Three Broomsticks. It was comforting for me to not have to be alone, but the night with just Harry and I was far too reminiscent of the night we spent together on the run when Ron left. After what felt like one of the longest hours of my life Harry suggested maybe we go visit Hagrid. I agreed, though somewhat numbly, I didn't really want to see anyone but any excuse to get out of the suffocating quiet was welcomed.

We walked together down the halls in silence, when we got to the main staircase that lead to the doors I noticed the Entrance Hall was empty, which was peculiar for seven thirty in the evening on a Friday night. The second thing I noticed was a long stemmed red rose lying on the floor.

"What on earth?" I said and I marched down the steps, I was more than annoyed. The universe was playing a cruel joke on me, here I am already heart broken and people have to leave roses, long stemmed red roses, my favorite flower, just lying around to mock me! I snatched up the flower intent on finding the dropper and letting them have it when I noticed the note attached, I flipped it open hoping to find the culprit and my heart stopped, it was my name on the card. I looked up at Harry and he was grinning, suddenly butterflies erupted in my stomach. Harry pointed his was at the castle doors behind me, I was confused by the flicker light that almost looked like it was shining though water, I turned and couldn't stifle my gasp.

There was a pathway that way covered by an arch of continuous falling stars, it was one of the most enchanting uses of magic I had ever seen. I turned back to Harry for an explanation but he was still just grinning smugly.

"I think you're supposed to go that way." He said mockingly, and I rolled my eyes in exasperation and affection before turning and walking into the beautiful archway.

I took my time walking down the winding path that I could tell was headed for the lake. For one I was enjoying the beauty of the stars falling around me, and also I was thinking. I knew that there was only one person who would put all this together, but why, what would prompt such an amazing gift. An apology? For the way he'd been acting, that was the only thing I could think of, but then I turned the last corner and he was there, he had a rose and he was smiling from ear to ear. I stopped dead first of all out of shock, as I took in the breathtaking scene before me. A little bungalow nestled on the edge of the lake and covered in ivy, it had a beautiful view of the full moon reflecting off the water, and if that wasn't enough Ron had filled it with candles. The second thing that brought me to a stand still was the look on his face, it was as if nothing had happened, he looked at me with every bit of love and adoration that he always had, and there was something more a nervous anticipation. He was afraid I wasn't going to forgive him for being such a jerk.

"Ron…" I said, my voice thick with confusion, "what's going on here?"

"First of all this is for you." He said handing me the second rose, "As well as this..." and he kissed me.

It felt like it had been forever since I kissed him, and even longer since he had meant it, but I was still confused as to why he was putting on such a show so I pulled away to look at him.

"How bout we have a drink?" said Ron, as he ushered me into the bungalow. He poured me a glass of champagne, and then one for himself. "Here's to you Hermione." He said, and he clinked our glasses together.

I was becoming more bewildered by the second, real champagne? A toast to me, I mean he had been horrible over the past few weeks, but this much of a show was making me worry that I was going to have more to be angry about before this was over, if it required this much buttering up.

"Ron… the way you've been acting… what on earth…" I fumbled.

"Ah… well see I had to do that… because I wanted all this to be a surprise." He said with a smile as he waved his hand at our surroundings.

"Ok…"I said slowly, "but what's all this about?" I was getting suspicious that maybe my assumptions were completely wrong about the reasons for this gesture of affection, but that led me right back to confused as hell.

Just then I heard the plucking of an acoustic guitar begin in the soft music that was playing in the background. I knew the song well it was by one of my favorite Muggle bands, then something clicked… I felt a swooping in my stomach but I pushed the idea away. "No Hermione…" I thought, "It's just a song by a band you like, that's why he picked it. Don't get ahead of yourself."

"Will you dance with me?" Ron asked sweetly, and I nodded. I looked into his eyes as we turned in a slow circle.

**[Forever can never be long enough for me]**

"Hermione have you ever heard someone talk about the moment a boy becomes a man?" said Ron abruptly.

**[Feel like I've had long enough with you]**

"yes…" I said slowly, I was bewildered but also enthralled by him in that moment, desperately wanting to know where this was leading.

**[Forget the world now, we won't let them see]**

"Would you like to know when that moment was for me?" he asked.

**[But there's one thing left to do]**

I nodded immediately.

**[Now that the weight has lifted]**

"It was that night we were trapped in the Malfoy's last year." I cringed instinctively at the memory and he squeezed me tight before continuing.

**[Love has surely shifted my way]**

""When Belatrix said she was going to take you, I would have done anything, I would have died just to keep her from touching you…"

**[…..today and every day]**

"and then I was locked in that basement, and I couldn't help you. I have never felt a worse feeling in my whole life…"

**[…if I ever get the nerve to say hello in this café…Say you will…]**

My eyes never left his the whole time he spoke, I felt like I was alive with anticipation. I couldn't help but let my hope get the better of me, to let myself believe this was going where my heart was screaming for it to go.

**[Together can never be close enough for me]**

"Then when we got out, and I saw you lying there, for a split second I thought you were dead."

**[Feel like I am close enough to you]**

"That was the moment Hermione. I grew up in that moment,"

**[You wear white and I'll wear out the words I love you]**

"because suddenly my life wasn't about me anymore,"

**[And you're beautiful]**

"I realized it hadn't been about me for a long time, if you weren't alive, I wasn't alive… not really."

**[Now that the wait is over]**

"There was no life worth living for me, without you."

**[Love has finally shown her my way.]**

The music kept playing as we danced, I felt the tears coming back to my eyes, but this time they were happy tears, because I knew. He had never spoken so earnestly to me, never show me how deep his love was, I had dreamed of this moment for so long and I knew it was finally here. The music changed tones and he lifted my chin to look into my eyes.

**[Promise me…]**

"I've never treated you right…"

**[You'll always be…]**

"I've screwed up time and time again…"

**[Happy by my side.]**

"But for some reason you still love me,"

**[I promise to…]**

"more than I could ever deserve."

**[sing to you…]**

"I'm a better person for having known you Hermione Granger,"

**[when all the music's died….]**

"and now I know, that wherever my life takes me, I want you beside me."

**[and marry me….]**

Ron got down on his knee.

**[today and every day]**

My hands flew to my mouth and I began to sob from sheer joy.

"Hermione Jean Granger?"

**[Marry me….]**

"Will you make me the luckiest man in the world and be my wife?"

**[If I ever get the nerve to say hello in this café say you will…] **

"Yes!" I gasped, as I hurtled myself into his arms, I could barely think for happiness, after everything I had been through in the past weeks, Ginny was right, there was nothing to worry about. Ron was mine, all mine and only mine, for forever.

He spun us around in a circle to the last few bars of the song holding me with my feet of the ground so than we were nose to nose. He set me down keeping one arm firmly around my waist and reached in his pocket to pull out a small black box. As he opened it I gasped yet again, and a fresh waive of tears came, I couldn't remember the last time I had been this emotional, let alone this happy. I hadn't had any expectations for the ring, I knew Ron didn't have much money saved, I was just happy knowing I'd have something from him to wear, but the last thing I was expecting was for it to be so absolutely….perfect. He slipped it onto my finger were it fit like a glove and I held my hand up to examine it. It was a silver band that was sculpted to look like ivy, which I thought was elegant and unique and scattered along it were tiny deep blue flowers made out of sapphires, which were my birthstone, and the ivy curled gracefully around the tasteful circular diamond. I could not have picked a more perfect ring if I had designed it myself.

"So… do you like it?" said Ron excitedly.

"Ron it is the most beautiful, and perfect ring that has ever existed!" I gushed throwing my arms around his neck.

"Well thank goodness for that!" he teased kissing me, "now we had better head up to the school… I expect there is a party waiting for us."

"Right… by the way I'm going to kill those two… knowing all along! And YOU!" I began punching his arm as we walked, "was it really necessary to break my heart to pieces just to surprise me?"

"What'd you mean break your heart? I was just avoiding you a bit to throw you off.." he said looking confused.

"Exactly, avoiding me, just like you did with Lavender before you dumped her for me…" I said sternly.

"Wait.. hold on… you didn't think… 'Mione…" Ron stopped and looked at me in concern, he grabbed my hand and pulled me back, "Please tell me you have not spent the past two weeks thinking I was cheating on you."

"Not the entire time no… but towards the end I did start to wonder if maybe you were losing interest… if someone else had…" Ron cut me off with a passionate kiss.

"Now you listen here Granger…." He growled against my lips, he cupped my face in his hands and looked me in the eye, " I don't even see their faces anymore Hermione, no other girl even exists."

"Well you do still see them…" I pointed out, my logical side kicking in, "but I understand what you mean…" He rolled his eyes, as he often did when I made logical corrections to his exaggerated statements.

"You want to know what I'm thinking every time I look at another woman now?" he said, "I think, 'look she had the same dimple at the corner of her mouth as Hermione when she smiles', or 'she wrinkles her nose when she's concentrating she just like Hermione', or 'look at the way she's glaring at him, just like 'Mione does when I'm being stupid.' The only thing I see in the women around me, is you. This perfect woman."

I jumped into his arms and kissed him. I had never felt so adored, even worshiped. He swept my legs out from under me and I gave a small shriek, she made a show of carrying me into Harry and Ginny's room where we were met with a loud round and cheers and noise makers.

I opened my eyes and smiled, the light was drifting in through my window. From the angle of the sun it was still early. I held my hand up to examine my ring, my flawless ring. I held it in the sunlight and watched it scatter the light across the ceiling. A moment later I felt the bed shift and soft lips brushed my shoulder. A grin spread across my face.

"Good morning. How is the future Mrs. Weasley feeling today?" Ron murmured sleepily.

"Perfect…" I said as I rolled over to cuddle against him. "How are you feeling Mr. Weasley?"

"Tired…" he sighed, "It's only..." he around on my bedside table for the pocket watch his parents has given him for his seventeenth birthday and groaned as he looked at it, "ohh…it's eight forty five, on a Saturday… back to sleep…" he flopped down dramatically.

"Or we could get up and get you a proper Hogwarts breakfast… remember what those are like? Bacon…eggs…toast…kippers…"

Ron made a show of sitting up with his eyes still close and acting as if the call of food was making him sleep walk.

"Oh you can be such a drama queen sometimes!" I said smacking his rear, he turned and grinned and then tackled me onto the bed as I shrieked and laughed.

"I've really missed you the last few weeks." He said.

"Well then you shouldn't have come up with that idiotic plan!" I retorted.

"I'm going to take that as, 'I missed you too Ron.' and head down to breakfast because now you have me thinking of food." He said giving me a quick peck on the lips.

We both changed into jeans and t-shirts and then headed down to breakfast hand in hand. As we entered the Great Hall we saw a bunch of the other Gryffindor's around the table.

"Coming up to mooch breakfast off the school Ron?" teased Seamus as he made room for us between him and Dean.

"You know it." said Ron jovially.

"So have you to made up then?" said Dean shrewdly, 'Rumors have been going around that you two were on the outs."

"Shouldn't believe everything you hear Deano. We're right as rain." said Ron easily.

"Hermione… what is on your finger!" said Parvati who was sitting opposite of us and had frozen with her spoon half way to her mouth and was now staring at my hand wither eyes huge.

"Oh… umm… yes, well we have a bit of an announcement." I raised my ring for all of them to see. Both Seamus and Dean erupted in yells and Parvati shrieked almost jumping across the table to grab my hand and look at my ring more closely. All of a sudden Dean grabbed an empty plate and a fork and stood up on the bench and banged the two together loudly, after a moment the whole hall quieted and looked at him. By the time I realized what he was doing it was too late to stop him.

"Oi! Just thought you all might find it interesting, for anyone who knows them. Ron Weasley asked Hermione Granger to marry him. And the bigger news is she said YES!"

Ron reached over me and knocked one of Dean's legs out from under him so he slipped and landed rear first on the bench with a crash.

"You smarmy git." He shot at Dean with a reluctant smile. For the next twenty minutes Ron and I were overwhelmed with hug and handshakes, in the end we barely even had time to eat breakfast, but it was worth every moment.


	18. Chapter 14

"Ron… once more and I swear I will send you back to the flat!" I snapped, picking up the paper airplane from where it hit my desk and crumpling it.

"I can't help it I'm bored!" grumbled Ron.

"Well then find something to do!" I retorted, "I have to study!"

"How do you have to study? It's a Saturday, and you've barely been in school a month." He pointed out, "You've had a bee in your bonnet ever since you went to that prefect meeting an hour ago, now are you going to tell me what's really bothering you or not?"

I glared at him, annoyed because I knew he was only confronting me because he wanted to distract me from my work and give himself something to do, but I was even more annoyed because he was right.

"Come here…" he said with a triumphant twinge, as he patted the bed next to him and I sighed but gave in shuffling across the room in defeat to sit on the edge of my bed.

"Fine…" I grumbled, "It's just… that was only our third meeting with the prefects, and no one would even talk about the list of things that I had complied over the last month that we needed to discuss, not even Neville! All they would do is go on and on about my engagement, wanting to know all the details, and wedding plans, and… don't get me wrong love, you know I am so happy we're getting married. But I've worked hard all my life to be taken seriously, I have big dreams for myself. I don't want to be seen as that girl who settles down young, starts a family and then gives up on all her big goals."

"Ok... slow down and take a breath there…" said Ron with a grin squeezing my hand, "First of all, we just got engaged last night. I think you'll find in a week or two, it will be old news. Second of all no one could ever see you the way you just described, and that will never happen because I won't let it. I am going to have the most successful, intelligent, and driven wife anyone could hope for, who does amazing things that people around the world know her for. I always have and always will believe in you. So please calm down woman!" I laughed.

"Fine you've convinced me…." I said flopping down next to him. "So are you as nervous as I am about tonight?"

"Why the bloody hell are you nervous?" said Ron looking over at me curiously.

"Because we're about to tell your family we're engaged! I mean it's the moment of truth for me really, they're stuck with me." I replied. Ron rolled over and looked at me as though he was really questioning my mental stability.

"Ok I do not know what had gotten into that brain of yours today…. But on what planet would you ever doubt my families acceptance of you?" he said.

"Well yes I know that accept me, as a dear friend, as a daughter figure, even as your girlfriend, but I'm going to be a Weasley! That's… well daunting." I said.

I looked over and Ron was grinning from ear to ear.

"What?" I said frowning slightly at his mocking of my nerves.

"I just love hearing you say that…" he explained, "Hermione Weasley… I love it."

"Stop trying to change the subject by being adorable." I said swatting his shoulder.

"Ok Hermione… let me tell you a story." He said in a matter-of-fact voice, "Two years ago, Christmas. Harry, Ginny, and I came home for Christmas break. You weren't with us. We had to inform Mum that you had gone home to your parents for the holidays. Then she found out I had a girlfriend, that wasn't you. It was the most passive aggressive I have ever seen my mother be! She told me I could only receive one owl a day from Lavender, which incidentally was a bloody relief considering she tried to write me constantly, and she flat out refused to let Lavender visit, even for a day. And she was always making subtle but painfully obvious comments, about things like, Lavender not being sensible enough for me, or her not having a level head, or not acting like a lady. By the end of the break it was so glaringly evident to everyone that the only girl who would ever meet her standards was you. So please stop with your ridiculous worrying."

"She really did all that?" I said softly.

"Of course she did…." He replied with an exasperated smile, we lay there on my bed in silence just looking at each other and smiling, communicating perfectly without words.

"It's amazing to think about isn't it…" he said.

"What is?" I answered.

"The possibilities… I love thinking about everything we have before us. I mean… you know me, I'm a pretty simple bloke. I like to try to live in the here and now. Only a handful of times have I really thought about what my future would look like, but now I know for sure I'm going to get what I want… I couldn't be happier."

"Was I always in your plan for the future?" I asked.

"Absolutely, you were the main component. Actually really thinking about my future for the first time was what made me realize I loved you. It was ironically that same Christmas break, I started thinking about the future, about me having a job, a wife, and children… coming home at the end of a long day to my family, and I couldn't picture Lavender, it just never felt right. It felt like I was forcing her into a picture she didn't fit in, and then one night… almost by accident, I thought about you. It all just clicked, it was perfection. I saw our house, our children, from that moment on I never wanted anything else."

"I pictured our daughter…" I said absentmindedly, lost in my own thoughts, "at the Ministry when I was in the Dungeon with Umbridge for the trials. She said something about 'the brats of Mudbloods.' And I just…. Saw her. She was so beautiful."

"Curly, bushy hair…" said Ron running his hands through mine.

"Curly bushy RED hair." I corrected with a smile, "blue eyes… freckles."

"But her Mum's smile, down to the adorable dimple." Said Ron, "she'll be beautiful." He leaned down and kissed me softly."

"Let's get through telling your family and planning a wedding with The Boy Who Lived first, then we'll think about children." I said with a smile.

Harry had sprung on us the night before that he wanted to propose to Ginny very soon, and he had asked us if we would consider a double wedding. We said yes immediately. I knew a lot of girls disliked the idea of double wedding because they wanted the attention all to themselves on their wedding day, but I couldn't think of anything more perfect than sharing the happiest day of my young life with two of my best friends in the entire world. Yet I knew that agree to share my wedding day with Harry Potter was agreeing to turn the wedding in one of the most widely publicized, exclusive, and anticipated events of the past decade.

"Oh good Lord it must be almost five o clock!" I said noticing how low the sun was in the sky, "I need a shower before we head to your parents!" I hopped off the bed and grabbed my towel.

"I'll join you." said Ron casually swinging his legs off the bed.

"You're going to take a shower with me?" I said raising an eyebrow.

"Why not?" he shrugged, "I need one, and we started this whole thing in a bath tub…. How is a shower much different?"

"Yes Ron but we don't have a lot of time… and I need a proper shower…" I explained.

"Exactly, you need a shower, I need a shower, we don't have a lot of time… it's practical." He came and wrapped his arms around me, "Contrary to previous situations Miss Granger, after this amount of time I do believe I have the ability to see you naked without having my way with you on the spot."

"I'm skeptical…. But I suppose I can give it a try…" I said with a grin and we both made our way into my private bathroom.

"see I told you I could control myself! ….for the most part." Said Ron, shooting me a slightly guilty glance and we walked down the corridor to meet Harry and Ginny.

"Yes very good. You get a…..B-." I teased.

"Oh come on… that restraint was at least worth a solid B! You're horrible woman!" he said.

"Well the good news is you have the next fifty to sixty years to improve your grade…" I said kissing his cheek.

"I plan on spending most of that doing the exact opposite!" he retorted, but we had reached the Entrance Hall, and Harry and Ginny were waiting, so I simply gave him a playful swat on the arm.

I was having a very hard time sitting still. I felt like everyone must have noticed my nerves by now, but no one seemed to. It had been a lovely evening, Mrs. Weasley had made an amazing dinner which we had all enjoyed before retiring to the living room. At that moment Ginny was asking Fleur about baby names. Bill and Fleur had announced a few months earlier that they were expecting, and the first Weasley grandchild had brought a new found excitement to the family. I sipped my tea, hoping no one noticed the way my hand was shaking and shot a look at Ginny who gave me and encouraging smile. I had been doing my best to keep my left hand hidden for the evening, yet I felt like the ring might as well have been a neon sign with a blaring siren. Still no one seemed to have noticed. All of a sudden Ron interrupted my worried thoughts by abruptly standing up and addressing the room. My stomach felt as though it had dropped to my toes, this was it.

"I have an announcement to make." He said importantly, "well Hermione and I do."

I jumped slightly at the sound of my name, and before I knew what was happening he had pulled me to stand beside him. I felt like I was on display as I looked into all the curious, and in some cases amused, faces, but Ron continued.

"You all know that Hermione and I have been together for some time now, and to be honest, we've loved each other for years." said Ron taking my hand, and I squeezed his back, my stomach bursting with nerves, "Well, I've asked Hermione to marry me, and she's said yes. So we're getting married next year."

The room erupted, George, Charlie and Bill started roaring with happy laughter confirming my suspicion that they already knew. But the thing that made me most happy was Mrs. Weasley's shriek of excitement as she ran at Ron and I pulling us into a crushing hug. My nerves evaporated instantly, and looking back I could see exactly what Ron had meant, this was my family. How could I worry they wouldn't want me, they'd loved me as their own for years.

"So wait Mum" said Ron over the din. "You're really ok with this? I thought you'd be mad because we're so young. Not that I'm complaining."

I could have slapped him in annoyance. He'd been building me up all day saying he was confident everything would be fine, and just conveniently left out his worries! Everyone became quiet as they looked at Mrs. Weasley for her reaction. Mrs. Weasley shook her head and gave her son a kind motherly smile.

"Oh Ronald…" she said bracingly, "ever since the first day you brought Hermione home to this house, I've been hoping against hope that you two would end up together. She's brought out such good things in you. And she's been like a daughter to me for years… now we just get to make it official."

I felt a lump growing in my throat and my eyes burning. I not realized that I had come to crave Mrs. Weasley validation as much as my own mother's, and to hear the words put so plainly. She wanted me, not only did she accept me into her family, but she had hoped for it desperately. She knew Ron and I were a perfect fit. She turned to me and I was touched even more deeply to see tears in her eyes.

"Thank you so much Mrs. Weasley. That means the world to me." I whispered.

"It's Mum now my dear one." said Mrs. Weasley.

That did it. Happy tears spilled over as I hugged her tightly.

"Ok Mum." I said.

"I think this calls for a drink!" said Mr. Weasley, and he broke out a bottle of firewhisky from the cabinet in the corner. He poured small glasses for everyone except Fleur, who took a small glass of pumpkin juice. They all toasted to Ron and I, and then went back to asking us question after question excitedly.

A little while later Ginny and I had started cleaning up the kitchen for Mrs. Weasley.

"I can't believe you were nervous. Look at how much they all love you!" she said with an elbow as she stacked plates in the sink and set them washing.

"I know… but it's hard! You second guess yourself." I shot back.

"Well at least now that you've got the hard stuff out of the way you can start planning." said Ginny, "honestly I can't believe you haven't started already you are the most organized person I know I thought you'd be making lists and charts."

"Well… there's really no rush.." I said with a shrug as I wiped down the wooden table, in truth it was driving me mad not being able to plan. I had looked at wedding dress designs and thought about potential dates, but I couldn't start really planning anything without Ginny and the waiting was wearing my nerves thin, if Harry didn't propose soon I was going to have some very strong words for him.

Just then George walked into the kitchen grinning.

"Now that was more fun that has gone on in the Weasley house in many a year. You should have seen your face when Ron stood up Hermione. Moaning Myrtle could have given you tanning lessons!" he teased plopping down on the table.

"Oh shut up!" I said swatting him, "and how did you know anyway? I could tell you knew what was coming before Ron said it!"

"You think Ron came up with those fairy lights on his own? That was a Wealsey's Wizarding Wheezes specialty! We cooked those up last summer!"

The mood in the room changed palpably, George's accidental use of the non existent WE, had sucked all the happiness out as effectively as a dementor. I looked into his face and saw for the first time a spasm of the gut wrenching pain that I knew he was hiding, and my heart ached. He took a breath and smiled, but as the corners of his mouth turned up the tears dampened his eyes.

"Yes well…" he coughed out his voice raspy, "Congratulations Hermione." He was looking at his feet and wouldn't meet our eyes, "I'm going to…" he trailed off as he took a step towards the door, "Tell Mum…. You know." His voice broke on the last word and he put his head down and walked quickly out the door, a second later we heard the pop of his Disaparation. Ginny ran to the door her eyes also damp, just as she reached for the handle a voice spoke behind us.

"Don't worry Gin, he'll be alright."

It was Charlie, he was leaning against the door frame from the living room looking sad.

"But he can't be alone in that shop right now… he needs me! he needs us!" said Ginny desperately, as she looked at her older brother.

"He won't be alone, and I guarantee he isn't going back to the shop." said Charlie.

"What do you mean?" she asked.

"George has been having a horrible time of it there's no doubt. For awhile I was really afraid for him, afraid he was going to do something stupid out of grief. He didn't know how to go on, but he found someone. A friend, who has been helping him be…. George, not half of George and Fred. And I know that's where he went, she's helping him heal. It's gonna be ok Gin." Charlie walked over and wrapped his arms around his little sister who buried her head on his shoulder. I reached over and stroked her hair and she responded my squeezing my hand.

"So you really have no idea who it might be?" I asked.

"For the fourth time no, I'm just as in the dark as you." replied Ron, we were cuddled up together on the couch in my parents living room, "but if George has found someone who is helping him feel better I'm really happy."

"But aren't you even the slightest bit curious who it is?" I said, turning slightly so I could look at him.

"Well yeah a bit, but George will tell us when he's ready. For now lets just be glad he's doing better." Ron replied.

At that moment my Dad wandered into the room holding two brown glass bottles.

"Well dinner is all cleaned up. How are things in here?" he said.

"They're fine Dad, but I wish you would have let us help with dishes…" I said affectionately.

"Nonsense," he said plopping into his favorite easy chair, "You two are guests thing weekend, and on that same note. Here you are Ron." he held out one of the bottles, "thought you might have a beer with me."

"ok…" said Ron taking the bottle, he took a swig and valiantly hid his grimace, and smiled at my Dad before taking a much smaller second sip.

"So…" said my Dad rubbing his hands together, "What shall we do for the evening. Any board games you're particularly fond of Ron?"

"Well I do love chess…" he said tentatively, "but that's not really a group game."

"Oh but I never have anyone to play chess against! Hermione and her mother hate it! I'll go get my board! You don't mind do you pumpkin?" he looked at me his eyes bright with excitement.

"Not at all…" I said with a laugh, and my Dad jumped up and ran to grab his chess set.

"Hermione what am I drinking…" Ron said to me under his breath when my Dad had left.

"Ummm… beer. It's an alcoholic beverage Muggles like, well Muggle men mostly." I explained.

"It tastes like an old barn…" he said wrinkling his nose at it, and I giggled.

Just then my Dad came running back in with the chess set and my Mom came and sat by me on the couch.

"oh my… has Hugo found someone to play chess with?" teased my mother.

"yes he has…" I teased along with her.

"So which color do you prefer Ron?" said my father.

"Umm.. white if that's alright with you." Ron answered.

"Absolutely my boy. Start us off!" said my Dad happily.

"Right," said Ron as he looked calculatingly at the board, "Pawn to B5." He said, my father and mother exchanged a confused look as Ron stared expectantly at the piece. I smile as I leaned over him and picked up the piece, moving it to the place he wanted it.

"It's not wizard's chess love." I said ruffling his hair.

For the next hour my father and Ron played, my mother and I watch, her knitting and my unraveling her yarn for her. With the exception of Ron being disappointed from the lack of violence in Muggle chess the two of them seemed to have a good time. I loved watching Ron play chess because it was the one thing in the world he knew beyond a shadow of a doubt he excelled at. No one not Harry, not me, not even his brothers could beat him at it, so he played with a relaxed confidence I loved to see him have. In the end my Dad won, but I could tell Ron let him. This was another skill Ron had with chess, letting the other person win, whilst keeping the game challenging enough they didn't know he let them win. The only reason I could tell was because I knew the subtlies of Ron's game.

"Right good game that was Ron!" said my Dad clapping him on the shoulder, "but I think we should do something with our ladies now. I have just the ticket!"

My Dad got up and walked over to the record player in the corner. As soon as he headed that direction I knew what he had in mind.

"Really Dad?" I said in amused exasperation.

"why not?" he said thumbing through his records, "are you too old to dance with me now?"

"Never ever…" I replied with grin.

"Alright then… who will it be tonight?" he said.

"I like you have to ask…" I said.

"Right… the Beatles it is!" he winked as he slid the record out of it's wrapper.

"What's the Beatles?" said Ron.

My Dad froze and looked at Ron as if he had said an unforgivable curse.

"How can this be possible!" he gasped in shock, "Hermione you cannot marry a man who doesn't know the Beatles!"

"Oh Dad stop it…" I said giggling at his antics, "He's a wizard, he doesn't know Muggle bands."

"But he's still BRITISH! The Beatles are our legacy they are the icon of our country. Not to mention ever since we found out about I've always wondered if it might have been more that just musical magic that made them sensational." He raised an eyebrow at us conspiratorially, and I laughed.

"Well lets get on with educating him then!" I said and my Dad put on the record. A few seconds later the first scratchy note of the soulful harmonica started and immediately my Dad was swaying to the beat and he reached his hand out to me. I grabbed it and he twirled me into his arms and we dance in a circle singing along to the music.

_**Love love me do…. You know I love you… I'll always be true… so pleeeeaaaaaaase… love me do…**_

On the drawn out part he spun me around and around and finished with dipping me while I laughed. We continued to dance around like crazy kids to Yellow Submarine, Hello, and I Wanna Hold Your Hand, while my mother clapped and sang along and Ron watched chuckling. Suddenly the tempo slowed as an acoustic guitar started playing.

"Oh this is your favorite Hermy."said my Dad and he put his arms around me, I put my head on his shoulder and we spun slowly on the spot, I closed my eyes and sang the words that I love so much.

"Words are flowing out like endless rain into a paper cup, they slither while they pass they slip away across the universe. Pools of sorrow waves of joy are drifting through my open mind, possessing and caressing me…." I softly continued to sing as I danced with my father, the way I had since I was barely big enough to walk. As the song ended my mother clapped for us and I felt slightly embarrassed realizing she and Ron and been an audience to my moment with my father. Yet my father lightened the mood because the next song started playing he turned to Ron with a smile.

"You're turn Ron. This is a song for people in love." With that he grabbed my Mom's hand and pulled her into his arms with a smile while Ron stood and willingly pulled me into his. We turned on the spot as the lyrics played.

_**Something in the way she moves…attracts me like no other lover… something in the way she woos me… I don't wanna leave her now… you know I believe and now….**_

_**Somewhere in her smile she knows… that I don't need no other lover…something in her style she shows me… I don't wanna leave her now… you know I believe and how…**_

Ron put his hand on my cheek and smiled. I couldn't believe after all the years that I had heard the song, there was a beautiful man standing in front of me that felt them all just for me. As the song crescendoed I sang the chorus softly, just for him.

"You're asking me will my love grow? I don't know…I don't know… Stick around and it may show, but I don't know…I don't know."

As the song ended we heard the familiar scratching sound that meant the record was at the end.

"Well that was a fun evening." Said my mother, "I think we're going to turn in for the night, you two have everything you need yes. Hermione you'll show Ron where the extra towels are if he wants to shower? Right then have a good night you two, see you in the morning." She took my Dad's hand and headed down the stairs to their bedroom on the bottom floor.

"This is still weird…." Said Ron as we walked down the hall, past the bathroom to my bedroom in the back of the house, "I mean… they just said goodnight and left us to do what we pleased."

"Well yes Ron. For one they trust me, for two we're engaged and my parents are a bit more… progressive, than yours." I explained, as I went to my dresser and pulled out a pair of old pajama's.

"I like being in your room." He said absentmindedly looking around at my things, "it's cool to see that you were a Muggle once. Not to mention your room is so much cooler that mine has ever been."

"What are you talking about? I love your room!" I said putting my arms around him from behind.

"But everything you have is nicer than everything I have. I mean look at this bed," he hopped on my double bed and flopped back into the decorative pillows that went with my deep purple bed spread. "You've got so many pillows I'm not ever sure how you sleep with them all!"

"I don't." I chuckled pulling them off my bed, "they're for decoration. The sleeping ones are underneath."

"See! You've have a pile of pillows just to make your bed look better! When I was growing up I was lucky if Fred and George didn't steal my ONE pillow and turn it into a spider!" Ron said.

"You poor abused little boy." I teased as I pulled the comforter back, and slipped into bed.

Ron was running his hand along my CD collection and reading the labels.

"You have a lot of music Hermione… I've never heard of any of these bands. Cept for this one of course, Train. They're your favorite." He smiled in pride that he had gotten that detail of my proposal spot on.

"You can borrow whatever you like Ron, it's fun educating you in the Muggle world." I said the last two words sinisterly and he chuckled as he came over and snuggled into bed with me.

"It's not so bad… this whole Muggle thing. And those Beatles, I have to admit they were bloody brilliant." He kissed me lightly and then picked up his dilumenator and clicked it, pulling the light from my ceiling fan.

"I guess there's no converting you fully is there?" I teased.

"N-n-n-ever…" he yawned, limply raising a fist in the air as he flopped back and I giggled.

"Come on Mr. Weasley, let's get some sleep. In the morning I'll show you how to use a toaster!" I kissed his cheek and we cuddled up and let exhaustion overtake us.

Monday morning I walked into the Defense Against the Dark Arts class a little later than was usual for me. Most of the class was already there in their seats chattering. I noticed to my slight annoyance that Harry and Ginny were absent yet again. Ever since they had moved in together in Harry's private quarters they had a tendency to skive off classes once or twice a week, and they often chose Defense Against the Dark Arts because they knew Bill would let them get away with it. So I went and took and empty seat next to Susan Bones, but I noticed Seamus, Dean, Parvati, and Lavender all giggling and looking my direction.

"What are you lot on about?" I said, turning in my seat to face them.

"Wait you don't know?" said Parvati looking at me wide eyed.

"Know what?" I replied.

"You…um… made the front page of the Prophet." said Seamus still sniggering.

"What?" I said snatching it out of his hands. Being as I had been in Muggle London for the past two days, I hadn't read my weekend copy yet. I was confused at the Title of the article, that covered half the front page. It read, Two Thirds of The Golden Trio Make a Trio of Their Own? I then began to read the article which was of course written by Rita Skeeter.

_It has been a well known fact for years that the, now legendary, Harry Potter, has never been seen far from the company of his two best friends, Hermione Granger and Ronald Weasley. Seeing as this trio had it's obvious ratio of two to one, the question has always been who will Miss Granger choose? After the great battle at Hogwarts it became quite evident that despite the fame, fortune, and heroic valor of Harry Potter that Miss Granger chose to pursue a relationship with Ronald Weasley. It has been speculated that Harry's pursuit of the younger Weasley sister Ginevra may have influenced Miss Granger's decision. All this being said the Wizarding World received yet another shock this weekend at the announcement of the sudden engagement of Ronald and Hermione. With their young age, and such a short period of romantic involvement, the question must be asked. Are there other factors influencing this hasty engagement?_

To my horror there was a picture of Ron and I on a picnic that we had taken just the previous day in a park near my parents home. I had no idea how they had managed to get the picture, but I was wearing a pair of grey wool leggings and one of Ron's maroon sweaters that his Mum always knitted him at Christmas which came down almost to my knees. Underneath the picture was a caption that read, _Sunday Park Frump, or Hiding a Baby Bump?_

I gasped in outrage and slammed the paper down on the desk.

"So anything you want to be telling us there Hermione?" said Seamus still smirking.

"Only that Rita Skeeter is a fowl evil gargoyle." I growled, "I am not even remotely pregnant."

"Told you." said Dean elbowing him, "Give me my galleon back."

"Not a chance. My bet is still far more likely than your's." shot Seamus.

"Like hell! You don't get my money until we have proof.' Snapped Dean, "There was plenty of time when there were out there on the run. Ron left them for like a month, what happens on the run stays on the run you know? There could have been a moment!"

"I .pardon!" I interrupted staring very sternly at the pair of them, "what EXACTLY did you two bet on?" I already felt the heat rising in my face, I had a feeling I knew what there answer would be, and their guilty faces confirmed my suspicions.

"Well…." Dean began sheepishly focusing very hard on his feet and not meeting my eye. "Fourth year… you turned down Krum. Like.. you went to the Ball with him but you wouldn't date him. So that got all the Gryffindor boys in our year thinking…. That you must fancy either Ron or Harry… so we sort of made a bet….on… well… how to put this delicately."

"They made a bet on which one would shag you." said Lavender with an eye roll, and a glare at the boys.

"You…. What?" I screeched feeling both insulted and outraged, "of all the disgusting, pig headed…and you betted against Ron… " I turned on Dean, "which means you betted it would be HARRY who?" I trailed off in disgust just glaring at him.

"It's not as if we did anything about it!" defended Dean, "It was just a guessing game! I'm really sorry Hermione we're stupid gits."

"Yes you are!" I snapped sitting back down and opening my book refusing to look at them.

"Nice going Lav, now we'll never know the answer." growled Dean.

"Just give it up Dean I won." Said Seamus.

"You have no proof of that!" Dean whispered fiercely.

"You saw her reaction to the idea of Harry." muttered Seamus.

"Could be a cover, besides even if it isn't Harry you don't get my Galleon unless you proof Ron did!"

"That's not fair!"

"Is too!"

"Is not!"

"Is too!"

"Is n—"

"Oh my God Shut up!" I snapped turning on them in annoyance, "Seamus! You won! Now both of you shut your stupid mouths before I hex you!"

Both of their mouths dropped open, and Seamus gave a whoop of victory as I rolled my eyes and turned away, but I smirked slightly. At the last second, just for good measure I wadded up the copy of the Prophet and hurled it at Seamus's head as hard as I could. It hit him in the ear with a satisfying thwap, and he cursed loudly. I smiled ruefully, but as I turned my attention to Bill who was just entering the room I noticed Lavender looking at me with a mix of anger and sadness on her face. I quickly looked away.

"Nice shot Hermione." Said Bill cheerfully as he hung his coat up and stood in front of the room. "Everybody up and to the sides of the room, practical lesson today," we stood and he vanished the desks. He went into the hall and brought in an antique trunk which shook violently. "Now I know you all faced boggarts with Professor Lupin but because of everything you have faced in recent years, and just with the nature of growing up. Your deepest fears will have changed, so I find it important to retest your skills on boggarts periodically. You all know the spell, Ridiculus. Now remember when the boggart appears you must force it to take the shape of something amusing so picture your fear and try and make it funny. Dean we'll start with you."

I was nervous as I Dean stepped forward, not only had I failed at my only attempt to get rid of a boggart but so much had happened since the last time I fought it. I had faced and overcome my biggest fear at the time, so what would it turn into now? Dean stepped forward and Bill opened the trunk. Out stepped Yaxley, who I knew to be the Death Eater who had killed his traveling companions the year before when he barely escaped. Yaxely raised his wand, and Dean took a shuddering breath and raised his own saying, _ridiculus!_ The Dark Mark visible on Yaxely's wrist suddenly came to life and the snake wriggled up his wrist into his sleeve and he began to jump and shriek on the spot doing a squirmy dance.

"Wonderful Dean!" encouraged Bill, "Lavender go!"

Lavender stepped forward, the boggart instantly turned into Fenrir Greyback, both Lavender and Bill instantly reacted. He was the werewolf that had attacked Lavender during the great battle leaving scars along her neck, and had also mauled Bill the year before leaving him permanently disfigured. As he advanced Lavender trembled slightly but managed to say the spell. Instantly the werewolf sprouted cat's ears and whiskers and gave a confused mew, as it looked wildly around. Next Seamus stepped up, the boggart transformed into an awful scene of his mother being tortured my Bellatrix. All the color drained from Seamus's face, but he closed his eyes and took a deep breath before saying the spell. When he did his mother instantly stopped screaming, instead of causing her pain, every time Bellatrix would put the curse on her his mother would start doing a jig and singing off color Irish drinking songs at the top of her lungs. At this all of us burst into laughter including Bill and the boggart Bellatrix started to panic.

"Excellent Seamus! It's getting confused, Hermione finish it off!"said Bill happily.

I stepped forward feeling more nervous than I had in quite sometime, unsure of what I was about to see. The boggart changed forms, immediately I felt my knees go out from under me. I heard Lavender wail behind me. My boggart was Ron, spread eagle on the ground a trickle of blood on his forehead, his eyes were blank and empty. He was as dead as a doornail. I felt myself trembling and heard people moving behind me.

"No." said Bill sternly, "She needs to do this. Hermione look at me." I looked up into Bill's kind eyes. "It's not real Hermione, you know that. You can do this, force it to be funny, don't let the fear control you."

I took a deep breath and closed my eyes. Force it to be funny… force it to be funny… suddenly a moment from the summer popped into my head and I smiled. Holding onto that moment I looked very hard down at the corpse and said the spell. At first glace it may not have looked like anything had changed, Ron had gone from being dead. To being very much alive and doing the most pathetic job ever at pretending to be dead, he was twitching and blinking, and while he tried to keep the vacant look in his eye he kept stealing tiny glance to see if we were convinced. It all culminated with him trying unsuccessfully to hold in a gigantic sneeze, at which point we all burst into laughter.

"Brilliant Hermione!" said Bill "now on the count of three all of you, one, two, three!"

"Ridiculus." We all said and the boggart vanished in a puff of wispy gray smoke.


End file.
